THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


/•'nun  thr  portroit  by  Anifx. 


The  Proceeding's  of 
THE    WEBST  ER 


Commemoration 
by  Dartmouth  College 
of  the  vServices  of 
DANIEL  WEBSTER 
to  the  College  and  the 
State  <&  j&  Held  upon 
the  occasion  of  ?5he 
One  Hundredth  Anni 
versary  of  t5he  Gradua 
tion  of  Mr.  Webster  j& 


Edited  by  Ernest  Martin  Hopkins 
Secretary  to  the  Presidents  and 
printed  tinder  tne  supervision  of 
Homer  Eaton  Keyes-^?  Instructor 
in  ILnglisH 


4   6/>e    Introduction 

\ 


652778 


W 


Introduction. 

ITH  the  approach  of  the  year  1901  the  senti- 
ment found  general  expression  among  the 
alumni  and  friends  of  Dartmouth  that  the  Col- 
lege ought  to  celebrate  in  some  fitting  manner 
the  centennial  of  the  graduation  of  Daniel  Webster. 
At  a  meeting  held  on  January  iQth,  1900,  the  trustees 
passed  the  following  vote  : 

"In  view  of  the  fact  that  the  Commencement  of 
1901  will  be  the  one-hundredth  Anniversary  of  the 
graduation  of  Daniel  Webster,  whose  supreme  service  to 
the  College  in  recovering  and  re-establishing  its  char- 
tered rights  calls  for  grateful  recognition  on  the  part  of 
the  Sons  of  Dartmouth : 

"Be  it  voted  that  the  Centennial  of  Mr.  Webster's 
graduation  be  observed  at  Hanover,  at  such  time  in  the 
year  1901,  and  in  such  manner,  as  may  be  appropriate, 
to  be  participated  in  by  the  faculty,  students,  alumni 
and  friends  of  the  College." 

If  Mr.  Webster's  only  service  to  the  College  had 
been  that  of  recovering  and  re-establishing  her  chartered 
rights,  recognition  would  still  have  been  called  for, 
but  it  is  possible  that  such  recognition  might  have  taken 
a  different  form  from  that  which  was  given,  and  the 
anniversary  have  been  made  strictly  an  academic  occa- 
sion. As  it  was,  Mr.  Webster's  services  to  the  nation 
added  such  lustre  to  the  name  of  Dartmouth,  and  his 

5 


Introduction  personal  fame  so  directly  increased  the  fame  of  the  Col- 
lege that  it  did  not  seem  as  feasible  to  acknowledge  the 
debt  due  to  the  great  statesman,  the  loyal  alumnus,  in 
an  academic  as  in  a  civic  occasion.  Thus  the  event  was 
unique, — the  observance  by  a  college  of  the  anniversary 
of  the  graduation  of  one  of  her  sons  through  a  civic 
celebration. 

The  preparation  for  the  Centennial  was  entrusted 
to  two  general  committees,  one  of  the  trustees,  consist- 
ing of  the  Honorable  James  B.Richardson, the  Honorable 
Benjamin  A.  Kimball,  and  Doctor  Cecil  F.  P.  Bancroft, 
and  one  of  the  faculty,  consisting  of  Professors  Justin 
H.  Smith,  Louis  H.  Dow,  and  Frank  G.  Moore. 

The  committee  of  the  trustees  made  the  arrange- 
ment for  the  speakers  at  the  different  exercises,  and 
issued  the  invitations  bearing  the  fac-simile  of  the  auto- 
graph of  Mr.  Webster,  but  the  chief  burden  of  prepara- 
tion fell  upon  the  local  committee.  Sub-committees 
were  appointed  from  the  faculty  to  take  charge  of  the 
details  incident  to  the  celebration — the  design  of  the 
program  and  the  oversight  of  the  printing,  the  decora- 
tion of  the  grounds  and  the  buildings,  the  electrical  dis- 
play, the  athletic  events, the  equipment  of  the  torch-light 
procession,  and  the  entertainment  of  guests,  visitors  and 
alumni.  The  co-operation  of  the  students  was  inval- 
uable. Special  recognition  is  due  Colonel  Charles  K. Darl- 
ing for  his  services  as  Marshal  throughout  the  exercises. 
The  completion  of  College  Hall  gave  the  requisite 
facilities  for  the  social  observance  of  the  occasion.  The 
club  rooms  of  the  building  proved  to  be  exactly  fitted  for 
the  reception  of  guests  and  the  uses  of  the  various  com- 
mittees ;  the  dormitory  section  added  greatly  to  the  con- 

6 


venience  of  entertaining  guests,  and  the  large  and  stately  Introduction 
dining  hall,  hung  with  portraits  of  Mr.  Webster,  and  of 
many  of  the  alumni  and  benefactors  of  the  College,  fur- 
nished a  most  appropriate  setting  for  the  brilliant  assem- 
blage gathered  at  the  banquet. 

With  the  exception  of  one  or  two  of  the  earlier 
classes,  every  class  from  1841  was  represented.  Judge 
Cross,  of  the  class  of  1841  was  the  oldest,  and  by  no 
means  the  least  active,  of  the  graduates  present.  There 
were  present  from  the  class  of  1851,  attending  the  exer- 
cises and  observing  their  fiftieth  anniversary,  Samuel  H. 
Folsom,  Esq.,  Mr.  Gilbert  E.  Hood,  Enoch  G.  Hooke, 
Esq., Senator  Redfield  Proctor,  Mr.  Daniel  Putnam,  Chief 
Justice  Jonathan  Ross,  and  Professor  Henry  E.  Sawyer. 

The  occasion  was  made  memorable  by  the  presence 
of  many  guests  of  personal  and  official  distinction  who 
came  to  do  honor  to  the  memory  of  Mr.  Webster.  The 
tribute  which  was  paid  by  their  presence  and  their 
words,  representing  so  great  a  variety  of  political  opin- 
ions, may  be  assumed  to  express  the  general  estimation  in 
which  the  services  of  Mr.  Webster  are  held  after  the 
lapse  of  one  hundred  years  from  the  beginning  and  forty- 
nine  years  from  the  close  of  his  career. 

The  enjoyment  of  the  occasion  was  greatly  enhanced 
by  the  weather,  unusual  even  in  the  rich  and  mellow 
days  of  September,  which  not  only  made  the  carrying 
out  of  the  whole  program  possible,  but  also  gave  exhila- 
ration to  each  event. 


Program  as  issued 


Changes  will  be  noted  in  tne 
introduction   to  each  section 


Prog'ram  j&  of 
WEBSTER 
CENTENNIAL  of 
Dartmouth  College 
Celebrating  j&  the 
One  j&  Hundredth 
Anniversary  j&  j& 
of  ?5hQ  Graduation 
of  DANIEL  &  j& 
j&  j&  j&  WEBSTER 


September  24tH  (Si  25tH,  19O1 
Hanover   -£?     Ne\v  HampsHire 


TUESDAY  ^  ^  ^ 
j&  vSeptember  24th 

2.30    O'CLOCK    & 

The  faculty  and  students  will  assemble  in  the 
College  Yard  to  form  in  procession  «^  •»*  ^ 

3  O'CLOCK    & 

EXERCISES  IN  THE  COLLEGE 
CHURCH  jt  jt  j» 

Organ  Prelude 
Chorus 

Prayer  by  the  Reverend  Samuel  Penniman 
Leeds,  D.  D. 

Chorus 

Address  by  Professor  Charles  Francis  Richard- 
son, Ph.  D.,  '71 

Mr.  Webster's  College  Life 

Address  by  Professor  John  King  Lord, 
Ph.  D.,  '68 

The  Development  of  the  College  Since 
the  Dartmouth  College  Case 

Chorus 

The  Choral  music  during  the  week  of  the  Webster  Centennial 
will  be  rendered  by  students  under  the  direction  of  Professor 
Charles  Henry  Morse,  Mus.  Bac.  ^*j*^*j*jtjtjtjt 

J*     ^     jfc 

5  O'CLOCK   ^ 

A  short  game  of  foot  ball  will  be  played  on 
Alumni  Oval  by  the  'Varsity  Eleven 
and  an  Alumni  Eleven  &  ^  j>  &  jfc  Jt,  jt, 


TUESDAY 

j&  ^September    24th 


8    O'CLOCK 

"DARTMOUTH  NIGHT" 

In  view  of  the  occasion,  Dartmouth  Night 
will  take  the  form  of  an  out-door  celebration, 
which  will  open  with  a  torchlight  parade,  in 
costume,  led  by  the  College  band  and  com- 
manded by  Colonel  Charles  Kimball  Darling, 
'85.  The  faculty  will  wear  black  academic 
gowns  and  mortar-board  caps  ;  the  students, 
a  similar  dress,  except  that  each  class  will  be 
distinguished  by  a  particular  color  —  white  for 
the  Seniors,  blue  for  the  Juniors,  scarlet  for 
the  Sophomores,  and  yellow  for  the  Freshmen. 
Members  of  the  graduate  departments  will 
wear  the  same  costume  in  still  different  colors. 
The  alumni  will  appear  in  a  Webster  cos- 
tume of  blue  coat,  buff  waistcoat,  stock,  dicky 
and  tall  hat.  A  feature  of  the  parade  will 
be  a  number  of  transparencies  together  with 
several  floats,  among  which  will  be  Webster's 
carriage  and  his  huge  plough  J*  &  &  •&•  •& 
After  completing  its  line  of  march,  the  proces- 
sion will  assemble  in  the  College  Yard,  where 
there  will  be  brief  speeches,  music  by  the  Glee 
Club  and  the  exhibition  of  a  series  of  stereop- 
ticon  views  illustrating  Webster's  life  and 
career.  Immediately  following,  the  campus 
will  be  illuminated  with  electric  lights,  fire- 
works and  a  bonfire.  A  number  of  prize 
athletic  contests  will  be  held,  the  evening 
closing  with  the  singing  of  Dartmouth  songs 
by  the  entire  assemblage  ^  J>  o*  ^  J>  jfr 


WEDNESDAY  &  j& 
j&   ^September    25tH 


9.3O    O'CLOCK 


ASSEMBLAGE  IN  COLLEGE  YARD 

A  procession  made  up  of  students,  alumni, 
faculty,  trustees  and  invited  guests  will  form 
in  the  College  Yard  in  charge  of  the  Marshal, 
Colonel  Charles  Kimball  Darling,  '85  j»  J* 

10  O'CLOCK  & 

EXERCISES  IN  THE  COLLEGE 
CHURCH  jfc  jfc  j» 

Processional  "Priest's  March  from 
Athalie"  Mendelssohn 

Chorus     "Sanctus  in  E  flat"  Osgood 

Prayer  by  the  Reverend  Alvah  Hovey,  D.  D., 
'44,  Ex-President  Newton  Theological 
Seminary  jt^^tjt^t^fc  jfcjtjtjt 

Chorus    "Prayer   of  Thanksgiving" 

Old  Netherlands  (J626) 

Address  by  the  President  of  the  College 

Oration  by  the  Honorable  Samuel  Walker 
McCall,  74,  of  Massachusetts  J*  .*   & 

Chorus    "Ein  Feste  Burg"  Old  German 

Conferring  of  Honorary  Degrees 

The  singing  by  chorus  and  congregation  of 
Milton  s  pharaphrase  of  Psalm  cxxxvi 
Benediction 


WEDNESDAY  &  & 
<&   ^September    25tK 


PSALM  cxxxvi 

Let  us  with  a  gladsome  mind 
Praise  the  Lord,  for  He  is  kind ; 
For  His  mercies  aye  endure, 
Ever  faithful,  ever  sure« 

Let  us  blaze  His  name  abroad, 
-For  of  Gods  He  is  the  God  j 
For  His  mercies  aye  endure, 
Ever  faithful,  ever  sure* 

He  with  all-commanding  might 
Filled  the  new-made  world  with  light ; 
For  His  mercies  aye  endure, 
Ever  faithful,  ever  sure. 

He  His  chosen  race  did  bless 
In  the  wasteful  wilderness ; 
For  His  mercies  aye  endure, 
Ever  faithful,  ever  sure* 

All  things  living  He  doth  feed, 
His  full  hand  supplies  their  need  ; 
For  His  mercies  aye  endure, 
Ever  faithful,  ever  sure. 

Let  us  therefore  chorus  forth 
His  high  majesty  and  worth ; 
For  His  mercies  aye  endure, 
Ever  faithful,  ever  sure. 

Amen. 


WEDNESDAY  j&  j& 
j&  September    25tK 


2.30   O'CLOCK 


CEREMONIES  ATTENDING  THE 
LAYING  OF  THE  CORNER-STONE 
OF  WEBSTER  HALL  *  .*  S 

The  corner-stone  will  be  laid  by  Samuel  Ap- 
pleton,  Esq.,  the  only  living  grandson  of 
Daniel  Webster  .*  jtjtjtjkjfijtjtjt 

The  prayer  of  dedication  will  Jbe  offered  by 
the  Right  Reverend  Abiel  Leonard,  D.  D., 
70,  Bishop  of  Utah  j*  ^  j*  *  j*  .*  > 

Address  by  the  Honorable  Frank  Swett 
Black,  75,  Ex-Governor  of  New  York 

Selections  of  Music  will  be  rendered  by  a 
chorus  of  students  jtotjfcjfcjfc^tjfc> 

4  O'CLOCK   ^ 

EXERCISES  IN  THE  OLD  CHAPEL  jt 

Reminiscences  of  Mr.  Webster  by  some  of 
the  Older  Graduates  and  Guests 


6.3O  O'CLOCK 

Out-of-door  Concert  by  the  Salem  Cadet  Band 


WEDNESDAY 

j&    ^September    25tH 


7  O'CLOCK 

BANQUET  IN  COLLEGE  HALL 

On  occasion  of  this,  the  first  public  use  of 
the  Dining  Hall,  the  walls  will  be  hung  with 
portraits  of  Mr.  Webster  in  possession  of 

The  Honorable  Alfred  Russell,  LL.  D.,  '50, 
will  preside  «j&«j&«j&«jfc«jfc«j&«j&«jfc»jfc,jfc 

Responses  will  be  made  by  the  President  of 
the  College,  and  by  His  Excellency  the 
Governor  of  New  Hampshire  &  jfi  J*  &  & 

Chief- Justice  Isaac  Newton  Blodgett,  LL.  D., 
of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State,  will  speak 
on  Mr.  Webster's  training  at  the  New  Hamp- 
shire Bar  «?*  The  Honorable  Frank  Palmer 
Goulding,  '63,  will  speak  on  Mr.  Webster  at 
the  Massachusetts  Bar  J>  J>  jfi  J>  j*  «j*  jt 

Some  aspects  of  Mr.  Webster's  personal  life 
and  associations  will  be  given  by  Edwin 
Webster  Sanborn,  Esquire,  '78,  the  Honorable 
George  Fred  Williams,  '72,  and  the  Reverend 
Edward  Everett  Hale,  D.  D.  &  jfi  J>  jfi  & 

Professor  Francis  Brown,  LL.  D.,  '70,  will 
speak  on  the  relation  of  President  Brown  to 
the  Dartmouth  College  Case  &  J*  •&  •£•  & 

The  Honorable  George  Frisbie  Hoar,  LL.  D., 
will  speak  on  Mr.  Webster  in  the  Senate  & 

Chief- Justice  Melville  Weston  Fuller,  LL.  D., 
(it  is  expected)  will  speak  of  Mr.  Webster  be- 
fore the  Supreme  Court  J*  J*  <&  J>  &  & 


"I  would  have  an  inscription  over  the  door 
of  your  building,  ^Founded  by  Eleazar 
"Wheelock,  Refounded  by  Daniel  Webster, ' " 
—Joseph  Hopkinson,  Esq.,  to  President 
Francis  Brown,  after  the  decision  of  the 
Supreme  Court  of  United  States  in  the 
"Dartmouth  College  Case." 


This  program  was  designed,  put  into  type 
and  printed  at  the  office  of  The  Dart- 
mouth Press,  Hanover,  New  Hamp- 
shire. ^^Jtjfco^^fctfctfct 


Exercises     of 
Tuesday     Afternoon 


Program. 

The  opening  exercises  of  the  Centennial  were  held  at  an 
early  hour  on  Tuesday  afternoon,  anticipating  the  arrival 
of  many  of  the  alumni  and  guests.  The  trustees,  faculty, 
and  students  assembled  at  J.30  o'clock  in  the  College  Yard, 
and  marched  in  procession  to  the  College  Church. 
Organ  Prelude — Festival  March.  Smart 

Professor  Charles  Henry  Morse,  Mus.  Bac. 
Chorus — Lift  up  your  Heads,  Ye  Gates.  Luetzel 

Prayer  by  the  Reverend  Samuel  Penniman  Leeds,  D.  D. 
Address  by  Professor  Charles  Francis  Richardson,  Ph.  D.,'71. 

Mr.  Webster's  College  Life. 
Address  by  Professor  John  King  Lord,  Ph.  D.,  '68. 

The  Development  of  the  College  Since  the 

Dartmouth  College  Case. 
Chorus — Integer  Vitae.  Fleming 


Mr.  Webster's  College  Life. 

Address  by  Professor  Charles  Francis  Richardson,  Ph.*D.,  '71. 
NE  hundred  years  ago  last  winter,  at  eight  o'clock 
on  Wednesday  evening,  the  thirty-first  of  Decem- 
ber, a  lad  of  nineteen  sat  in  his  college  room, 
probably  in  old  Dartmouth,  which  he  jocosely  called 
Beechnut  Hall,  and  wrote  to  his  friend  Bingham  :  ( 'To- 
morrow, Hervey,  is  the  first  day  of  the  year,  and  of  the  cen- 
tury, which  none  of  us  will  probably  live  to  see  closed." 

Ten  decades  have  rolled  around,  and  we  meet  in  the 
first  year  of  another  century  to  celebrate,  for  the  first  time 
in  the  history  of  American  colleges,  the  graduation  of 

21 


Charles  him  whom  most  we  delight  to  honor  at  Dartmouth, 
Francis  whose  "great  stone  face"  is  carved  as  that  of  the  chief 
Richardson  oratOr  of  the  new  world  on  the  walls  of  the  academic 
theatre  of  our  oldest  university  ;  and  whose  name  was 
but  lately  selected  as  entitled  to  rank  with  those  of 
Washington  and  Lincoln  at  the  very  top  of  the  roll  of 
fame  of  the  nation,  as  preserved  in  the  stately  hall  of 
learning  between  the  Hudson  and  the  sea.  Not  alone  in 
Dartmouth,  therefore,  is  advanced  the  claim  that  Web- 
ster in  some  respects  stands  supreme  among  the  alumni 
of  the  colleges  of  the  United  States.  It  is  my  modest  of- 
fice, in  chronological  preparation  for  the  more  important 
addresses  that  are  to  follow,  to  try  to  bring  before  you 
some  little  picture  of  Webster's  four  years  in  what  the 
poet  of  "Snow-Bound"  called  "classic  Dartmouth's  col- 
lege halls." 

The  student  of  history  soon  discovers  how  infre- 
quent is  the  examination  of  original  documents  and  how 
common  the  re-phrasing  of  familiar  statements.  There 
is,  in  the  accounts  of  Webster's  college  days,  as  set  forth 
by  his  several  biographers,  a  striking  similarity  of  idea 
and  even  of  word.  With  minor  garnishments  of  rhetoric, 
we  are  told,  at  greater  or  less  length,  that  his  under- 
graduate life  was  industrious  ;  that  he  read  more  than 
he  studied,  making,  like  Shakespeare,  greater  progress 
in  Latin  than  Greek  ;  that  he  excelled  in  history,  ora- 
tory, and  English  acquirements  ;  and  that  he  once  super- 
intended a  "  little  weekly  newspaper."  We  recognize 
the  slippery  phrase  "it  can  easily  be  believed,"  in  its 
changing  forms  of  expression  ;  and  at  last  we  are  ready 
to  declare  the  swollen  story,  as  Dr.  Ordronaux  said  of 
the  orations  of  a  living  Boanerges  of  New  York  politics, 
22 


a  "  monstrous  compound  of  tautology,  redundancy,  ver-  Charles 
bosity  and  pleonasm."  Francis 

Even  the  chapter  in  Mr.  George  Ticknor  Curtis'  Richardson 
indispensable  biography  is  wordy ;  three  pages  are  devot- 
ed to  the  statement  that  truth,  not  exaggeration,  should 
be  sought  in  accounts  of  a  great  man's  youth,  and  else- 
where there  is  much  that  is  fanciful,  superfluous,  or 
irrelevant.  I  do  not  propose,  in  the  short  time  before 
me,  to  weary  you  with  iterations  so  easily  to  be  found 
on  the  printed  page.  The  later  writers  have,  according 
to  the  fashion  of  our  time,  been  the  more  conservative  ; 
but  the  authorities  of  chief  value,  among  the  many  I 
have  diligently  examined,  are  the  records  of  the  trustees, 
the  PJii  Beta  Kappa,  and  the  United  Fraternity ;  Web- 
ster's autobiographical  notes  ;  the  letters  of  himself  and 
his  college  friends,  especially  those  gathered  by  Professor 
Sanborn  when  preparing  the  eulogy  delivered  at  Phillips 
Academy  in  1853,  and  later  used  in  several  articles  by 
the  same  hand,  on  Daniel  Webster  as  a  Student ;  the 
reminiscences  of  Judge  Samuel  Swift  of  the  class  of  1800; 
the  Dartmouth  Gazette  and  reprints  therefrom  ;  Web- 
ster's two  undergraduate  orations  now  in  print  ;  and 
Professor  Colby's  thorough  account  of  the  evolution  of 
the  Dartmouth  curriculum  in  political  science  and  relat- 
ed subjects. 

If  we  begin  with  a  glance  at  externals,  the  academic 
buildings  which  Webster  beheld  during  his  college  quad- 
renniumare  brought  back  to  the  mind's  eye  by  the  water- 
color  sketch  made  by  George  Ticknor  in  1803,  at  the  age 
of  eleven.  This  sketch,  now  one  of  our  most  valued 
memorabilia,  represents  Dartmouth  Hall  in  its  present 
external  appearance ;  southwest,  substantially  on  the 

23 


Charles  site  of  Reed  Hall,  stands  the  president's  house,  long 
Francis  since  moved  across  trie  common,  and  lately  restored  as 
Richardson  the  Howe  Library ;  in  front  of  the  present  location  of 
Thornton  Hall,  and  near  the  street,  stands  the  old  chapel, 
removed  in  1828  to  the  neighborhood  of  Hubbard  House 
and  afterwards  pulled  to  the  other  side  of  Main  Street 
and  transformed  into — perhaps  I  should  merely  say  for 
the  first  time  called — a  barn  ;  while  northeast  and  north- 
west of  Dartmouth  Hall,  respectively,  are  the  house  of 
Bbenezer  Woodward,  the  site  of  which  is  now  shown  by 
an  abandoned  well,  and  a  long  two-story  wooden  struc- 
ture, which  served  for  divers  academic  and  culinary  pur- 
poses, near  the  present  chapel  site. 

As  regards  the  location  of  Webster's  college  rooms, 
I  have  spent  as  much  time  as  that  devoted  to  the  entire 
remainder  of  my  address  in  trying  to  reduce  the  misty 
stories  of  a  century  to  something  like  fact.  In  Freshman 
and  Sophomore  years,  1797-99,  he  roomed  in  the  house 
of  Humphrey  Farrar,  with  Farrar's  son  George,  class 
of  1800,  and  William,  class  of  1801,  and  Freeborn 
Adams,  non-graduate.  This  is  the  written  testimony  of 
George  Farrar.*  In  1788  Humphrey  Farrar  had  bought 
of  President  Wheelock  a  lot  ' '  with  a  large  house  and  a 
shop  standing  thereon,"  somewhat  southeast  of  the  pres- 
ent corner  of  Main  and  Lebanon  Streets.  In  1793  he 
added  thereto  an  adjoining  lot  lying  north  of  the  lot  and 
home  "owned  and  occupied"  by  him,  this  new  pur- 
chase being  the  corner  at  present  owned  by  Mr.  E.  P. 
Storrs.  As  the  record  of  this  purchase  was  filed  Oct. 
14,  1801 ,  just  prior  to  Farrar's  sale  of  the  whole  property, 

*George  Farrar  to  Prof.  E.  D.  Sanborn,  Nov.  25,  1852. — Private 
Correspondence  of  Daniel  Webster,  1 :  53. 

24 


the  inference  is  clear  that  Webster  roomed  in  a  house  Charles 
situated  thereon,  during  Freshman  and  Sophomore  years.  Francis 
For  this  interesting  discovery  I  am  indebted  to  the  pains-  Richardson 
taking  search  made  for  me  by  George  H.  Kendall,  Esq., 
Register  of  Deeds  of  Graf  ton  County.  It  is  probable 
that  the  fabric  of  this  Farrar  house  survives,  at  least 
in  part,  as  the  existing  Wainwright  house.  For  Webster's 
abode  in  Junior  and  Senior  years  three  localities  are 
named,  none  of  which  can  be  reduced  to  accurate  time- 
limits.  The  late  Miss  Lucy  J.  McMurphy  was  told  by 
William  Dewey,  about  1850,  that  to  his  knowledge 
Webster  roomed  in  the  McMurphy  house,  time  not  speci- 
fied ;  and  she  wrote  in  1896  that  she  thought  Dewey  said 
that  Webster  occupied  the  south  chamber.*  In  Junior 
year  he  continued  to  room  with  Freeborn  Adams,  and 
for  the  greater  part  of  some  one  year  he  roomed  with 
Aaron  Loveland  of  his  own  class.  Judge  Loveland's 
nephew,  Mr.  Charles  Ensworth,  now  living  in  Norwich, 
thinks  they  roomed  in  the  house  of  the  father  of  the 
William  Dewey  already  named,  who,  after  Webster's  col- 
lege days,  built  the  present  home  of  Mrs.  Frederick 
Chase,  but  had,  perhaps,  previously  occupied  another 
house  on  the  same  site.  In  Senior  year,  according  to 
tradition,  and  the  oral  statement  made  to  Dean  Emerson 
by  Professor  Sanborn  of  the  class  of  1832,  Webster 
roomed  in  Dartmouth  Hall.  A  more  specific  tradition 
declares  that  he  occupied  the  room  then  and  now  num- 
bered i,  northwest  corner  of  the  third  story,  as  was 
understood  by  my  father,  Moses  Charles  Richardson  of 
the  class  of  1841,  who  was  its  occupant  1840-1,  and  by 

*  Letter  filed  in  the  College  library. 

25 


Charles  Dean  Emerson  of  the  class  of   1868,  who  was  its  occu- 
Francis  pant  1865-7. 

Richardson  Webster  wrote  from  Washington,  Feb.  5,  1849;  to 
James  H.  Bingham  as  "my  dear  old  class-mate,  room- 
mate, and  friend,"  but  no  such  expression  as  "room- 
mate" is  contained  in  his  letters  to  Bingham  during  or 
immediately  after  their  college  course,  though  the  two 
were  intimate  associates.  It  is  probable,  from  this  allu- 
sion, from  George  Farrar's  testimony,  and  from  Aaron 
L/oveland's  recollection,  that  a  somewhat  loose  system  of 
meum  and  tuum,  in  the  matter  of  rooms,  was  in  vogue 
in  the  early  and  simple  days  of  the  College. 

The  triennial  catalogues  of  graduates  of  the  College 
began  in  1786,  but  the  first  annual  list  of  the  officers 
and  students  of  "  Dartmouth  University  " — which  term 
•  was  habitually  used  by  the  authorities  years  before  it 
became  the  badge  of  the  opposing  party  in  the  great 
contest — was  issued  in  October,  1802,  a  year  after  Web- 
ster's graduation.  The  little  company  of  instructors — a 
president  and  three  men  in  the  College,  and  one  in  the 
medical  school — given  in  the  general  catalogue  of  1801, 
was  the  same,  save  as  regards  two  tutors,  with  which 
Webster  had  been  familiar  in  his  student  days.  The 
extent  of  the  wisdom  of  the  teachers  reminds  one  of 
Italian  versatility  in  the  time  of  Leonardo.  Honorable 
John  Wheelock,  L,L,.  D.,  was  president  and  professor  of 
civil  and  ecclesiastical  history;  Honorable  Bezaleel 
Woodward,  A.  M.,  was  professor  of  mathematics,  natur- 
al philosophy,  and  ethics,  and  also  trustee  and  treasurer, 
and  judge  of  the  county  court ;  Rev.  John  Smith,  A.M., 
was  trustee  and  librarian  and  likewise  professor  of  "Lat- 
in, Greek,  Hebrew,  and  other  oriental  languages";  and 

26 


Nathan  Smith,    M.  D.,    besides  being   teacher   of   the  Charles 
theory  and  practice   of   medicine   and   of   anatomy  and  Francis 
surgery,  was  professor  of   chemistry.     The  tutors  had  Richardson 
been  John  Noyes  (afterwards  a  member  of  Congress  for 
a  single  term)  from  1797  to  1799;  Stephen  Bemis  (later 
a  minister  in   Massachusetts)  from  1799  to    1800;  and 
Roswell  Shirtliff,  as   he   then   spelled   his   name,  from 
1800.     Wheelock,  Woodward,  John  Smith,  and  the  suc- 
cessive tutors  were  Webster's  instructors  ;  and  it  should 
be  said  of  the  last-named  down-trodden  class  that  their 
'usefulness  in  personal  contact  with  students,  while  pur- 
suing their  multifarious  duties  of  teaching  everything 
that  the  professors  left  untouched  or  did  not  know,  was 
an  important  factor  in  the  history  of  American  colleges 
prior  to  1850. 

The  reminiscences  of  some  of  these  men  by  Judge 
Samuel  Swift  of  Middlebury,  of  the  class  of  1800,  who 
lived  to  be  the  oldest  graduate  of  the  college,  are  vivid  : 
''President  Wheelock's  instructions  were  confined  to  the 
Senior  class,  and  he  was  not  regarded  by  them  as  a 
popular  or  profitable  teacher.  His  knowledge  and  his 
instructions  were  mostly  confined  to  the  book.  He  was 
much  of  a  recluse,  and  mingled  little  in  public  or  pri- 
vate with  the  world,  and  seemed  to  know  little  of  it. 
He  affected  a  stiff  dignity  towards  the  students,  and  in 
all  his  movements  ;  his  walks  abroad,  across  the  com- 
mon or  elsewhere,  with  his  three-cornered  hat,  were  in 
slow  and  measured  steps.  The  library  was  kept  in  one 
of  the  rooms  of  the  upper  story  (of  Dartmouth  Hall), 
and  was  said,  on  what  authority  I  do  not  know,  to  con- 
tain about  4,000  volumes.  A  considerable  proportion 
of  them  were  duodecimos,  and  other  small  volumes  con- 

27 


Charles  tributed,  I  suppose,  by  friends  who  had  no  further  use 
Francis  for  them.  The  books  seemed  not  to  be  selected  because 
Richardson  ^Qy  were  particularly  appropriate  for  a  college  library. 
In  another  upper  room  was  what  was  called  a  museum, 
consisting  of  curiosities  said  to  be  collected  by  former 
graduates  and  others  in  their  travels.  The  most  notice- 
able, and  the  only  one  I  recollect,  was  a  stuffed  skin  of 
a  large  fowl,  understood  to  be  found  in  South  America. 
On  one  occasion  the  building  caught  fire.  The  flames 
were  making  decided  progress,  when  President  Wheel- 
ock,  appearing  in  the  excited  crowd,  called  to  a  student 
to  secure  'the  Great  Bird'.  By  the  vigorous  application 
of  snow,  however,  the  fire  was  at  length  subdued  and 
the  building  and  most  of  its  contents  rescued.  John  Smith, 
Professor  of  Greek  and  Latin — known  among  the  students 
as  Professor  Johnny — was  an  amiable  man,  but  of  formal 
manners.  He  was  a  critical  book-scholar,  but  an  arti- 
ficial teacher.  He  preached  also  on  the  Sabbath  to  the 
students  and  villagers,  but  with  little  animation  or  force 
in  his  composition  or  delivery.  Bezaleel  Woodward  .  .  . 
was  in  everything  the  reverse  of  President  Wheelock 
and  Professor  Smith  .  .  .  There  was  nothing  scholastic 
about  his  appearance  or  manners." 

The  instruction  proffered  at  Dartmouth,  at  the 
time,  may  have  deserved  the  adjective  "meagre",  so 
often  used  by  Webster's  biographers,  but  it  was  at  least 
logically  progressive,  and  some  of  the  teachers  were 
strong  men.  It  is  a  hasty  error  to  assume  that  the  cur- 
riculum of  American  colleges,  a  century  ago,  was  not 
much  better  than  that  of  a  good  high  school  of  to-day. 
Latin  was  taught  with  some  approach  to  thoroughness  ; 
quotations  from  classical  authors  were  still  heard  from 

28 


undergraduate  lips  ;  and  mature  young  men  got  sound  Charles 
discipline  from  the  philosophical,   the  semi-philosophi-  Francis 
cal,  or  even  the  theological  subjects  set  before  them  in  Richardson 
the   class-room.     The    College   library   was   miserably 
scanty,  but  the  English  rhetoricians  of  the  eighteenth 
century — headed  by  Addison  with  his  poetical  prose  and 
Pope  with  his  prosy  verse — were  influential  upon  the 
student  because  so  closely  connected  with  the  Roman 
classicism  of  the  daily  recitation.     If  Webster  knew  less 
Greek  than  Latin,  it  must  be  remembered  that  every- 
where in  America,  prior  to  1800,   Greek  was  viewed 
through  a  Latin   haze  and  was  much  less  competently 
taught. 

But  we  naturally  ask,  with  peculiar  interest  :  What 
instruction  did  Webster  receive  in  legal  and  political 
studies  ?  Says  Professor  Colby,  in  his  account  of  the 
early  curriculum  at  Dartmouth,  aside  from  ancient 
languages,  mathematics,  and  religious  branches  :  "The 
location  of  the  College  on  the  frontier,  and  the  stirring 
events  which  followed  its  founding,  the  Revolution,  the 
framing  of  the  new  constitutions,  state  and  federal,  the 
long  struggle  over  the  New  Hampshire  grants,  and  the 
rise  of  American  political  parties,  aroused  liveliest  inter- 
est in  law  and  government  throughout  all  the  region 
where  dwelt  the  natural  constituency  of  the  College,  and 
made  increasing  demand  upon  it  for  legal  and  political 
training.  Evidence  of  effort  to  satisfy  this  demand  may 
be  found  in  the  first  formal  curriculum  of  the  College, 
which  was  adopted  by  its  trustees  in  1796.  This,  under 
the  head  of  'Public  and  Classical  Exercises',  enumerates 
among  the  subjects  of  study  for  Juniors,  4  natural  and 
moral  philosophy',  and  among  those  for  Seniors,  'natur- 

29 


Charles  al  and  politic  law'.  Since  moral  philosophy,  as  then 
Francis  denned,  treated  of  the  state— the  subject-matter  of  polit- 
Richardson  ical  science — the  first  formal  curriculum  of  the  College 
appears  to  have  included  both  the  studies  of  law  and 
government.  Neither  search  in  the  official  records  of 
the  College,  nor  wide  gleaning  among  the  graduates  of 
that  period,  yields  much  information  about  the  conduct 
of  these  courses  from  1796  to  1822.  Instruction  in 
natural  and  politic  law  apparently  fell,  with  the  general 
care  of  the  Senior  class,  to  the  President,  and  so  was 
given  to  John  Wheelockfrom  1796  to  1815  .  .  .  The  in- 
struction in  moral  philosophy  (including  political  phi- 
losophy) apparently  was  assigned,  with  the  general  care 
of  the  Junior  class,  to  Rev.  John  Smith,  Professor  of  the 
Latin  and  Greek  languages  from  1796  to  1804  .  .  .  Proba- 
bly the  earliest  text-books  in  each  of  these  subjects  were 
those  known  to  have  been  in  use  in  1816.  These  were 
the  two  famous  works,  Burlamarqui's  Principles  of  Nat- 
ural and  Politic  Law,  first  published  in  Geneva  in  1747 
and  republished  in  Boston  as  early  as  1793,  and  Paley's 
Moral  and  Political  Philosophy,  first  published  in 
England  in  1785  and  republished  in  Boston  as  early  as 
1795.  The  sixth  book  of  Paley  is  devoted  to  what  is 
now  called  political  science — the  state,  its  origin,  forms 
of  government,  civil  liberty,  and  the  administration  of 
justice.  Both  of  these  books  were  then  coming  into  use 
in  America,  and  the  former  was  prescribed,  as  a  text,  in 
the  college  as  late  as  1828,  and  the  latter  as  late  as 
1838." 

To  the  institution  thus  housed,  officered  and 
arranged,  Webster  came  as  a  Freshman  in  August,  1797, 
having  studied  a  little  at  Exeter  and  received  his  final 

30 


preparation  from  Rev.  Samuel  Wood,  a  graduate  of  Charles 
1779,  for  fifty-five  years  pastor  at  Boscawen.  When  his  Francis 
father  first  told  him  he  was  to  go  to  college,  "  the  very  Richardson 
idea,"  he  afterwards  said,  "thrilled  my  whole  frame." 
He  had  quickly  read  the  stipulated  three  or  four  orations 
of  Cicero  and  four  or  five  books  of  Virgil,  and  spent  only 
three  months  over  the  Greek  Testament.  One  writer 
says  that  Daniel's  admission  was  due  less  to  his  own 
acquirements  than  to  Mr.  Wood's  influence  as  a  trustee, 
which  remark  does  not  lead  us  into  an  investigation  of 
the  potentiality  of  the  trustees,  as  Mr.  Wood  did  not 
belong  to  their  honorable  body.  Webster  reached  Han- 
over in  a  stage  with  Junior  Roswell  Shurtleff,  who 
(according  to  the  memory  of  his  daughter,  the  late  Mrs. 
Susan  Brown)  showed  him  attention  and  escorted 
him  for  quarters  to  the  house  now  occupied  by  Dr. 
Leeds,  then,  like  so  many  country  houses  of  the  time,  a 
sort  of  inn.  Dr.  Shurtleff,  who  remembered  him  well 
'in  his  college  days  as  thin,  dark,  and  pale,  slept  in  the 
same  room  with  him  the  first  night.  Rumor  declares 
that  Webster  passed  his  entrance  examinations  in  the 
same  house.  In  Freshman  year  he  studied  Latin  (begin- 
ning with  book  VII  of  the  Aeneid),  Greek  (New  Testa- 
ment), arithmetic  and  algebra.  He  joined  the  United 
Fraternity  Nov.  7,  1797,  which  society  met  in  his  room' 
Nov.  21.  He  was  elected  by  it  u  inspector  of  books" 
Aug.  12,  1798. 

In  Sophomore  year  he  is  said  to  have  delivered  an 
oration  on  a  deceased  class-mate,  and  to  have  given  a 
poem  before  the  class,  every  line  of  which  ended  in  ion\ 
no  very  difficult  metrical  task.  In  the  winter  of  1797 
and  1798  he  taught  school  in  his  home  town  of  Salis- 


Charles  bury,  the  first  year  for  four  dollars  a  month  and  the 
Francis  second  year  for  six.  May  14,  1799,  he  was  elected  Fra- 
Richardson  ternity  librarian  and  member  of  the  standing  committee. 
In  Junior  year  and  the  following  he  wrote  anony- 
mously, or  as  "  Icarus,"  for  the  Dartmouth  Gazette,  a 
general,  not  collegiate,  weekly,  published  in  Hanover 
by  Moses  Davis,  also  making  selections  for  the  paper. 
Davis  issued  the  first  number  of  this  Gazette,  which 
was  at  least  the  third  Hanover  paper,  "  on  the  College 
plain,  west  of  the  Meeting-House,  Hanover,  Newhamp- 
shire,"  on  Aug.  27,  1799,  and  published  it  until  his 
death  in  July,  1806,  also  issuing  a  small  fortnightly 
called  the  Literary  Tablet,  "by  Nicholas  Orlando," 
from  1803  to  1806.  Webster's  contributions  were  pretty 
regular,  from  the  initial  number,  for  the  first  two  years 
of  the  paper,  which  were  the  last  of  his  college  course. 
As  far  as  preserved,  they  do  not  differ  from  the  usual 
newspaper  verse  and  prose  of  the  period ;  the  pentam- 
eters are  of  the  one  two,  three  four,  five  six,  seven 
eight  nine  ten  order ;  sentiment  is  enforced  by  capitali- 
zation ;  jocosity  is  rather  too  roomy  ;  and  the  glories  of 
peace  are  properly  commended  at  the  expense  of  the 
horrors  of  war.  The  cleverest  of  them  is  a  scheme  for 
a  Napoleonic  subjugation  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  moon. 
For  his  work,  which  Davis  was  always  glad  to  get, 
Webster  received  some  $50  or  $75,  enough,  as  he  remem- 
bered, to  pay  a  year's  board  in  those  frugal  days.  Davis 
wrote  from  Hanover,  Nov.  26,  1802,  with  a  jocose  per- 
sistency which  brooked  no  denial,  demanding  from 
Webster  a  "newsboy's  message"  for  January,  1803. 
"  I  want,"  said  he,  "a  genuinely  Federal  address,  and 
you  are  the  very  man  to  write  it,"  adding,  "some  of 
32 


our  most  respectable  characters  join  in  this  request.  It  Charles 
is  conjectured  that  '  Icarus '  has  flocked  with  the  wild  Francis 
geese  and  gone  South  for  a  warmer  climate.  It  is,  Richardson 
however,  expected  he  will  return  early  in  the  spring." 
This  "  newsboy's  message,"  we  are  told,  was  written  as 
his  last  contribution  to  the  paper.  I  regret  that  I  have 
failed  to  find  it.  After  Davis'  death  the  Gazette  passed 
into  the  hands  of  Charles  Spear,  who  conducted  it  until 
1819  as  a  judicious  Federalist  organ,  and  during  the 
college-university  contest,  as  an  advocate  of  the  college 
party.  The  latest  known  issue  is  that  for  June  23,  1819. 
To  return  to  Webster  as  a  college  Junior  :  Oct.  15, 
1799,  the  Fraternity  voted  to  u  reposite  "  in  its  annals 
an  oration  delivered  by  him,  the  manuscript  of  which 
was  afterwards  stolen.  Nov.  26,  1799,  Webster  gave  a 
voluntary  oration,  and  Dec.  3,  an  assigned  oration, 
before  the  Fraternity.  Dec.  17,  possibly  on  Webster's 
suggestion,  Printer  Moses  Davis  was  elected  an  honorary 
member.  May  27,  1800,  Webster  was  chosen  vice- 
president.  Aug.  19  he  was  elected  orator  and  "first 
critic,"  his  place  as  orator  preceding  that  of  other  offi- 
cers, president,  etc.,  chosen  at  the  same  time.  Aug.  20, 
1799,  he  and  Joseph  W.  Brackett  had  been  asked  to 
write  a  "  dialogue  for  exhibition  at  the  next  Commence- 
ment." This  seems  to  have  been  presented  at  the  end 
of  his  Junior  year,  in  the  College  church,  then  more 
histrionically  hospitable  than  now.  The  Fraternity  had 
voted  to  give  a  play  every  year  at  that  period,  but  a 
subsequent  vote  discontinued  the  custom  after  one  trial; 
we  are  not  told  whether  the  reason  was  that  the  dialogue 
was  inimitable  or  that  it  was  intolerable. 


33 


Charles         Webster's  membership  in  the  Phi  Beta  Kappa  so- 

Francis  cjety  js  made  interesting  by  the  fact  that  the  records  of 

Richardson  £our  of  ^ts  meetings  are  in  his  handwriting  as  secretary 

pro  tern.      He  had  been  elected,  June  5,  1800,  and  he 

was   initiated,  as  the  only  incomer,  July  3.     This  was 

glory  enough  for  one  meeting,  so  the  society  "voted  to 

omit  the  exercises  till  next  week  on  Thursday.'' 

Aug.  26,  1800,  Rev.  Mr.  Wood,  his  former  tutor, 
was  elected  an  honorary  member  of  the  Fraternity, 
doubtless  at  Webster's  suggestion.  Oct.  7,  Ephraim 
Simonds  gave  a  Fraternity  oration  on  the  Beauties  of 
Friendship,  and  Webster  one  on  Ambition.  Simonds 
died  June  18,  1801,  and  Webster  subsequently  delivered 
a  commemorative  oration  on  his  class-mate  and  friend. 
Nov.  25,  Webster  was  elected  president  of  the  Fraternity. 
On  Wednesday,  Aug.  27,  1801,  he  received  his  bache- 
lor's degree. 

Turning  from  the  chronological  to  the  general,  we 
must  never  forget  that  in  all  our  consideration  of  Web- 
ster's college  course,  we  are  concerned  with  the  being 
and  doing  of  a'  boy  between  fifteen  and  nineteen  years, 
who  left  Dartmouth  at  an  age  about  that  of  the  "average 
man"  of  the  present  incoming  Freshman  class.  On  the 
whole,  his  career  as  an  undergraduate  bore  some  resem- 
blance to  that  of  Emerson  and  Hawthorne  at  other  New 
England  institutions,  in  that  he  read  much,  but  did  not 
seek  or  reach  the  highest  academic  honors.  This  is  a 
common,  perhaps  the  usual ,  experience  of  those  to  whom 
technical  scholarship  does  not  strongly  appeal.  As  an 
orator  he  made  an  unusual  mark,  as  is  proved  by  the 
common  testimony  of  his  associates  ;  by  his  selection  as 
Fourth-of-July  speaker  before  the  citizens  of  Hanover  in 

34 


1800  ;  and  by  his  appearance  as  the  commemorative  eulo-  Charles 
gist  of  his  class-mate  Simonds. 

Says  Webster  himself,  in  his  fragmentary  autobiog-  Richardson 
raphy,  "  Of  my  college  life  I  can  say  but  little.  I  was 
graduated,  in  course,  in  August,  1801.  Owing  to  some 
difficulties,  haec  non  meminisse  juvat,  I  took  no  part  in 
the  Commencement  exercises.  I  spoke  an  oration  to 
the  Society  of  the  United  Fraternity,  which  I  suspect 
was  a  sufficiently  boyish  performance.  My  college  life 
was  not  an  idle  one.  Besides  the  regular  attendance  of 
prescribed  duties  and  studies,  I  read  something  of  English 
history  and  English  literature.  Perhaps  my  reading  was 
too  miscellaneous.  I  even  paid  my  board  for  a  year  by 
superintending  a  little  weekly  newspaper,  and  making 
selections  for  it  from  books  of  literature,  and  from  the 
contemporary  publications.  I  suppose  I  sometimes 
wrote  a  foolish  paragraph  myself.  While  in  college  I 
delivered  two  or  three  occasional  addresses,  which  were 
published.  I  trust  they  are  forgotten ;  they  were  in 
very  bad  taste,  I  had  not  then  learned  that  all  true 
power  in  writing  is  in  the  idea,  not  in  the  style,  an 
error  into  which  the  ars  rhetorica,  as  it  is  usually  taught, 
may  easily  lead  stronger  heads  than  mine." 

Professor  Sanborn  once  said  to  him  at  his  own 
table  in  Franklin  :  ' '  It  is  commonly  reported  .  .  .  that 
you  did  not  study  much  in  college."  He  raised  his 
eyebrows  very  high  and  replied  with  spirit :  ' '  What 
fools  they  must  be  to  suppose  that  anybody  could  suc- 
ceed in  college  or  public  life  without  study  !  I  studied 
and  read  more  than  all  the  rest  of  my  class,  if  they  had 
all  been  made  into  one  man.  And  I  was  as  much 
above  them  then  as  I  am  now."  This  is  the  sort  of 

35 


Charles  indignant  egotism  into  which  the  really  great  man  occa- 
Francis  sionally  breaks,  and  we  pardon  him.  But  at  another 
Richardson  time  he  wrote  :  "My  scholarship  was  overestimated. 
.  .  .  Many  other  students  read  more  than  I  did  and 
knew  more  than  I  did.  But  so  much  as  I  read  I  made 
my  own.  .  .  .  Thus  greater  credit  was  given  me  for 
extensive  and  accurate  knowledge  than  I  really  pos- 
sessed." '  To  George  Ticknor  he  once  remarked  :  "My 
Greek  and  mathematics  were  not  great  while  I  was  in 
college,  but  I  was  better  read  in  history  and  English 
generally  than  any  of  my  class,  and  I  was  good  in  com- 
position. My  Latin  was  pretty  strong  too."  The  year 
before  his  death  he  wrote  :  "  My  attainments,  if  I 
made  any,  were  not  such  as  told  for  much  in  the  recita- 
tion room.  After  leaving  college  I  'caught  up',  as  the 
boys  say,  pretty  well  in  Latin  ;  but  in  college,  and  after- 
ward, I  left  Greek  to  Loveland  and  mathematics  to  Shat- 
tuck.  Would  that  I  had  pursued  my  Greek  till  I  could 
read  and  understand  Demosthenes  in  his  own  language." 

One  writer  has  expressed  surprise  that  the  modern 
Demosthenes  did  not  excel  as  a  Hellenist.  I  would  say 
that  the  Demosthenian  element  in  Webster  was  furnished 
by  his  Saxon  inwit  and  the  Ciceronian  by  his  Roman 
studies,  did  I  not  remember  that  Cicero  was  in  some 
ways  a  more  modern  and  facile  man  than  Webster  him- 
self. Were  Webster  and  Cicero  to  re-appear  in  Ameri- 
can political  life,  Webster  would  be  the  mightier  in  dis- 
cussing the  question  whether  the  Constitution  follows 
the  flag,  but  Cicero  would  be  the  more  serviceable  in 
finding  a  remedy  for  municipal  maladministration. 

One  of  Mr.  Webster's  most  careful  biographers 
thinks  that  he  lacked  "  close,  steady,  and  disinterested 
36 


attention."  It  would  seem,  however,  that  his  study  of  Charles 
history,  as  a  collegian,  and  his  obvious  correlation  of  Francis 
Hume  and  Gibbon  with  his  class-room  work  in  L,at  in  Richardson 
and  practical  philosophy,  proved  the  contrary.  L/et  us 
not  fall  into  the  too  prevalent  habit  of  guesswork  when 
we  aver  that  the  known  productions  of  Webster,  in  the 
years  immediately  following  his  graduation,  are  so  close- 
ly connected  with  the  academic  fashions  of  1801  as  to 
suggest  an  inevitable  relation  of  cause  to  effect.  The 
new  work  of  romanticism,  introduced  to  English  readers 
by  Coleridge  and  Wordsworth's  "Lyrical  Ballads"  of 
1798,  was  as  yet  unknown  at  Dartmouth,  where  Cole- 
ridge was  soon  to  be  a  philosophic  power  ;  and  Webster 
as  cojlegian — indeed  to  the  end  of  his  days — was  an 
exponent  of  the  grandeur  that  was  Rome  rather  than  the 
glory  that  was  Greece.  A  full  and  eloquent  expansion 
of  this  fact  you  have  read  for  yourselves  in  Choate's 
resplendent  eulogy,  perhaps  the  most  famous  speech  ever 
delivered  from  this  memory- haunted  platform. 

"Black  Dan"  as  a  collegian — he  was  mistaken  by 
one  of  the  Hanover  Deweys  for  an  Indian  entering  the 
Moor  School  his  first  Sunday  in  the  College  church — 
was  impressive  as  a  mighty  man  in  the  moulding 
process ;  a  potent  figure,  spare,  with  high  cheek-bones, 
storm-tossed  eyes,  a  resonant  voice,  and  a  dignity  of 
carriage  that  was  not  inconsistent  with  the  hearty  humor 
of  a  certain  good-fellowship.  But  there  have  come  down 
to  us  no  stories  such  as  those  of  Hawthorne's  mild  play- 
ing for  stakes  at  Bowdoin,  Poe's  heavier  gambling  at 
the  University  of  Virginia,  or  Emerson's  utter  incapaci- 
ty for  mathematics  at  Harvard.  If  Webster  indulged  in 
discreet  flirtations,  which  are  the  subject  of  jocose  allu- 

37 


Charles  sions  in  his  letters  of  the  time,  they  evidently  left  him, 
Francis  and  the  young  women  mentioned,  heart-free.     You  will 
Richardson  aiso  ^e  gja(j  to  learn  that  if,  as  one  of  his  biographers  dis- 
creetly puts  it,  "there  was  gaiety  in  the  little  town  of 
Hanover  in  those  days,"  it  was,  he  says,  "of  that  modest 
and  moderate  sort  which  consisted  with  the  habits  of 
learning,  and  of  a  religions  community." 

The  testimony  of  his  college  mates,  even  when  we 
make  allowance  for  the  natural  tendency  to  magnify  a 
great  man's  early  virtues  and  to  minimize  his  faults,  is 
consistent.  Says  one  of  them  :  "I  should  as  soon  have 
suspected  John  Wheelock,the  President,  of  improper  con- 
duct as  Daniel  Webster .  .  .  He  was  dignified,  constant, 
well-prepared,  industrious;  read  with  rapidity;  a  good 
general  scholar  ;  unequalled  in  composition  and  speaking; 
a  talented  debater  ;  was  accustomed  to  arrange  his 
thoughts  in  his  mind  in  his  room  or  private  walks,  and 
put  them  upon  paper  just  before  the  exercise  was  called 
for.  Once  a  sudden  flaw  of  wind  took  away  his  paper,  and 
it  was  last  seen  flying  over  the  meeting-house,  but  he 
went  in  and  spoke  its  contents  with  remarkable  fluency. 
He  always  attended  public  worship,"  a  commendable 
trait  that,  with  the  connivance  of  the  College  authorities, 
has  characterized  the  Dartmouth  man  ever  since.  An- 
other witness  avers  that  he  was  the  "most  remarkable 
young  man  in  College;  no  one  thought  of  equalling  the 
vigor  and  glow  of  his  eloquence  ;  his  habits  and  moral 
character  were  entirely  unimpeachable. ' '  Said  one  of  his 
class-mates:  "If  anything  difficult  was  to  be  done, the  task 
was  laid  upon  Webster."  Another  recalls  that  "the 
powers  of  his  mind  were  remarkably  displayed  by  the 
compass  and  force  of  his  arguments  in  extemporaneous 
38 


debates  at  the  meetings  of  the  literary  society.     At  that  Charles 
early  day,  the  clearness   of  his  reasonings,  connected  Francis 
with  his  aspect  and  manner,  produced  an  almost  irresist-  Richardson 
ible  impression  upon  his  hearers.  His  large,  black,  pierc- 
ing eye,  peering  out  under  dark,  overhanging  brows ; 
his  broad,  intellectual  forehead  ;  the  solemn  tones  of  his 
voice ;  the  dignity  of  his  mien,  with  an  earnestness  by 
which  he  seemed  to  throw  his  whole  great  soul  into  his 
subject,  evincing  the  sincerity  of  his  belief  that  the  cause 
he  advocated  was  that   of  truth  and  justice,  all  these 
created  a  power  of  eloquence  which  few  could  resist." 
George  Farrar  adds,  in  Johnsonian  style,  that  "  he  was 
pleasant  without  ostentation." 

MHe  was  sure,"  says  Hervey  Bingham,  a  lifelong 
friend,  "to  understand  the  subject  of  his  recitation;  some- 
times, I  used  to  think,  in  a  more  extended  and  more 
comprehensive  sense  than  his  teachers  .  .  .  He  was  a 
favorite  with  the  class  generally;  interesting  and  instruct- 
ive in  conversation  ;  social  and  very  kind  in  his  feel- 
ings ;  not  intimate  with  many."  "All  his  exercises," 
according  to  his  class-mate  Elisha  Hotchkiss,  "through 
his  whole  collegiate  course,  improved  in  excellence  as 
time  advanced  .  .  .  His  range  of  study  was  more  general 
than  that  of  his  class-mates.  The  ease  with  which  he 
acquired  knowledge  afforded  him  much  time  for  promis- 
cuous reading."  His  mode  of  recitation,  according  to 
the  recollection  of  Nathaniel  Shattuck,  also  of  the  class 
of  1801,  "was  prompt  and  off-hand  ;  ever  standing  side 
by  side  with  the  best  specimens  of  scholarship  in  his 
class,  and  in  some  particulars,  especially  in  composition 
and  oratory,  ahead  of  them  all  ...  He  possessed  a  very 
clear  and  comprehensive  mind,  and  on  graver  subjects 

39 


Charles  was  bold  and  lion-like  in  language. ' '  A  minor  but  not 
Francis  universally  prevalent  merit  is  mentioned  by  Professor 
Richardson  Sanborn  in  the  remark  that  "all  the  early  manuscripts 
of  Daniel  and  Ezekiel  Webster  are  remarkable  for  their 
plain,  legible  chirography,  with  scarcely  a  blot  or  era- 
sure, and  for  their  accurate  spelling  and  punctuation." 
Samuel  Lorenzo  Knapp,  of  the  class  of  1804,  who 
was  the  first  to  write  a  history  of  American  literature 
and  a  life  of  Webster,  says  in  the  latter  that  there  was 
"no  mannerism  or  reigning  fashion  in  the  democratic 
Dartmouth  of  Webster's  day,  no  uniformity  of  coats, 
caps,  or  thoughts,"  but  that,  in  his  rather  remarkable 
phrase,  '  'the  alumni  exhibited  a  wilderness  of  free  minds, 
over  whom  alma  mater  had  no  other  control  than  the 
exactions  of  a  respectful  compliance  to  a  few  necessary 
rules  in  order  to  secure  the  ordinary  duties  of  a  student. 
Mr.  Webster  was  distinguished  in  his  class  for  a  general 
knowledge  of  all  the  branches  of  learning  taught  in  the 
College,  but  much  more  for  a  bold,  strong,  independent 
manner  of  thinking  and  of  expressing  his  opinions.  He 
grappled  with  authors  at  that  time  not  simply  to  make 
himself  master  of  what  they  wrote,  but  to  test  their 
merits  by  a  standard  of  his  own.  If  such  a  mind  is  not 
always  right  in  its  conclusions  it  is  certainly  on  the  road 
to  truth  .  .  .  The  scholars  acknowledged  his  great  talents 
and  the  faculty  sanctioned  their  opinion  of  his  merits. 
The  professor  of  natural  philosophy,  Judge  Woodward, 
who  lived  but  three  years  after  Mr.  Webster  left  College, 
often  spoke  of  him  in  high  terms,  and  accompanied  his 
remarks  with  a  confident  prophecy  of  his  future  emi- 
nence. 'That  man's  victory  is  certain,'  said  the  sage 
professor,  'who  reaches  the  heart  through  the  medium 

40 


of  the  understanding.     He  gained  me  by  combating  my   Charles 
opinions,  for  I  often  attacked  him  merely  to  try  his    Francis 
strength. '     The  good  old  professor, ' '  adds  Knapp,  "was   Richardson 
then  in  the  wane  of  life,  but  if  his  struggles  with  his 
pupils  lacked  something  of  his  former  energy  (for  he 
was  in  the  prime  of  life  a  strong  man,  and  had  but  few 
equals  in  the  field  of  argument),   still  there  was  such  a 
sincerity  in    his  opinion,  and  so  much  of  his  former 
insight  into  character  remained,  that  all  were  prepared 
to  expect  and  believe  his  visions  of  coming  days."     I 
fear  that  Professor  Woodward  was  not  the  last  Dartmouth 
instructor  who  had  to   "struggle"   with  his  pupils  as 
they  "exhibited  a  wilderness  of  free  minds." 

There  is  a  little  more  of  the  sub-acid  in  the  recol- 
lections of  his  room-mate  Aaron  Loveland  of  Norwich, 
Vermont,  who  survived  until  1870.  A  living  resident 
of  that  town,  a  nephew  of  Judge  Loveland,  says  that  he 
often  heard  his  mother  or  grandmother  tell  about  the 
Judge's  bringing  Mr.  Webster  to  the  Loveland  home- 
stead, when  they  were  in  College,  on  Saturdays  to  hunt. 
Webster  was  rather  rough  and  awkward  in  his  manners, 
and  troubled  the  grandmother  by  so  putting  his  feet 
upon  the  soft  soapstone  around  the  fireplace  as  to  scratch 
it ;  and  so  she  told  Aaron  not  to  bring  his  friend  any 
more  if  he  was  going  to  scratch  her  Orford  soapstone. 
On  a  July  afternoon  in  1857,  thirteen  years  before  his 
death,  Judge  Loveland  sat  down  in  a  hay  field  west  of 
Norwich  and  gave  to  Rev.  S.  W.  Boardman,  then  the 
village  pastor,  some  reminiscences  of  Webster's  college 
days,  which  Mr.  Boardman  immediately  jotted  down. 
"I  roomed  with  Webster,"  said  he,  "about  one  year. 


Charles  He  was  very  ambitious  in  college  from  the  first,  and 
Francis  took  every  opportunity  to  make  himself  conspicuous. 
Richardson  He  had  unbounded  self-confidence,  seemed  to  feel  that 
a  good  deal  belonged  to  him,  and  evidently  intended  to 
be  a  great  man  in  public  life.  He  was  rather  bombas- 
tic and  always  ready  for  a  speech.  One  day  he  was 
reading  Addison's  'Cato,'  putting  it  off  in  great  style, 
when  he  pronounced  'Utica'  as  if  the  first  letter  was 
short ;  I  corrected  him,  and  he  said  I  was  right.  He 
did  a  great  deal  in  his  college  society,  and  received  al- 
most unbounded  flattery  from  his  fellow-members.  They 
thought  he  was  great.  It  was  common  for  others  to  say 
they  overestimated  him.  He  was  not  very  popular  with 
the  class,  owing  to  his  being  so  independent  and  assum- 
ing. On  one  occasion,  when  some  matter  was  discussed 
before  the  class,  the  side  which  he  advocated  received 
but  few  votes,  whereupon  he  got  up  and  left  the  room. 
He  would  appear  rather  stuffy  if  things  did  not  go  to 
suit  him,  though  he  took  no  special  pains  at  electioneer- 
ing. On  the  whole,  he  was  regarded  as  our  ablest 
man  ;  if  anything  was  to  be  done  he  was  generally  ap- 
pointed. He  never  refused  ;  would  always  take  hold 
and  get  off  something,  and  generally  did  well.  His  funer- 
al oration  for  Simonds  was  very  good,  but  produced  no 
extraordinary  effect.  He  came  to  college  from  a  tavern 
kept  by  his  father,  who  was  in  embarrassed  circumstances. 
His  father  was  at  our  room  while  we  were  together.  He 
said  that  if  he  had  received  education  in  youth,  he  could 
have  done  anything  he  chose.  Dan  was  rough  and  awk- 
ward, very  decidedly,  and  I  sometimes  doubted  whether 
he  would  succeed  in  life  on  that  account.  Yet  there 
was  something  rather  assuming  and  pompous  in  his 

42 


bearing  as  well  as  his  style.  He  observed  things  remark-  Charles 
ably,  and  was  quick  to  see  their  bearings.  He  was,  and  Francis 
felt  himself  to  be,  a  kind  of  oracle.  He  read  the  news-  Richardson 
papers  and  kept  himself  posted  upon  political  affairs 
remarkably  for  a  young  man.  He  read  a  good  deal  also 
of  general  reading.  If  any  distinguished  men  were 
about,  he  would  manage  to  fall  in  with  them  ;  met  more 
than  most  students,  and  was  distinguished,  in  the  com- 
munity around  the  College,  for  the  extent  and  readiness 
of  his  political  knowledge.  He  was  a  good,  though  not 
a  very  accurate,  scholar.  He  would  occasionally  come 
over  here  to  Norwich,  Saturdays,  to  hunt  with  me.  Dan 
seldom  hit  anything.  He  became  precisely  the  man  to 
be  the 'pet  of  merchants.  He  was  ambitious  through 
life,  and  did  well  till  the  last,  when  he  foolishly  sought 
the  Southern  vote.  He  ought  to  have  known  that  he 
would  never  secure  it.  He  had  spoken  too  much  and 
too  well  against  slavery  for  them  ever  to  forget  or  for- 
give. I  consider  ambition  his  one  fault  and  weakness." 
On  another  occasion,  Judge  Lovelaud  said  that  he 
often  walked  and  talked  with  Webster,  and  that  his  con- 
versation was  philosophical  or  political,  far  above  the 
ordinary  gossip  of  other  young  men. 

Webster  got  no  small  amount  of  practice  in  speech- 
making  in  the  United  Fraternity,  so  often  mentioned. 
It  was  one  of  the  two  rival  societies  among  the  students, 
the  regular  exercises  of  which  consisted  of  essays,  de- 
bates, and  orations  of  the  sort  so  long  common  in  New 
England  colleges  and  country  "lyceums."  Thus  Web- 
ster shared  or  increased  undergraduate  wisdom  on  the 
following  questions,  among  others  (I  quote  from  the 
records) :  "Would  it  be  good  policy  to  treat  an  individ- 

43 


Charles  ual  of  the  French  nation  with  that  respect  we  should  one 
Francis  Of  another,  in  present  circumstances?"  "Would  it  be 
Richardson  just  for  tke  United  States  to  grant  letters  of  Mark  and 
Reprisal  against  the  French  Republic?"  "Should  a 
scholar  attend  as  much  to  ancient  as  modern  writings  ?" 
*  'Is  the  study  of  the  Latin  language  preferable  to  Greek?' ' 
and  so  on.  The  records  sometimes  append  "yes"  or 
"no"  to  perpetuate  the  opinion  of  the  members  as  ex- 
pressed in  the  subsequent  vote.  An  unhesitating  affirm- 
ative gave  the  Dartmouth  view  of  the  query,  "Is  mar- 
riage productive  of  happiness?"  and  even,  "Is  a  collegi- 
ate education  conducive  to  happiness  ?  "  ;  but  the  more 
guarded  word  "conditional"  was  appended  to  the  still- 
mooted  inquiry,  "Ought  separate  schools  to  be  provided 
for  the  education  of  the  different  sexes?" 

The  books  of  the  society  show  the  usual  dreary 
memorials  of  insecure  undergraduate  orthography,  lazy 
secretaries,  speakers  unprepared,  exercises  postponed, 
small  attendance,  and  fines ;  but  Webster,  who  gradual- 
ly became  its  most  important  member,  was  always  ready, 
and  once  gave  a  volunteer  oration  the  very  week  before 
a  regular  one  was  duly  delivered  by  him. 

Two  of  Webster's  undergraduate  speeches  survive 
in  print :  this  eulogy  of  his  class-mate  Simonds,  and  his 
Fourth  of  July,  1800,  oration  before  the  citizens  of  Han- 
over. Of  the  former,  however  genuine  its  feeling  and 
sincere  its  endeavor,  the  modern  reader  shares  the  au- 
thor's deprecatory  opinion.  A  funeral  oration  that  is 
not  verbose  and  platitudinous  is  rare  indeed;  great  would 
have  been  the  saving  of  words  and  of  patience  if  more 
of  the  dead  had  been  allowed  to  bury  their  own  dead. 
That  the  Johnsonian  style  was  still  potent  is  shown  by 
44 


such  an  aspiration  as,  "May  his  virtues  ever  live  in  our  Charles 
practice,  as  his  memory  ever  must  in  our  minds";  while  Francis 
the  vogue  of  Mackenzie,  the  "Man  of  Feeling,"  is  sug-  Richardson 
gested  by  the  remark  that  "little,  indeed,  is  he  fitted 
to  cull  the  flowers  of  rhetoric,  whose  bosom  still  bleeds 
for  the  loss  of  its  inmate,  whose  powers  are  overwhelmed 
in  the  flood  of  sensibility."  But  not  unworthy  was 
such  a  phrase  as  "the  dull,  funeral  toll,"  or  the  well- 
balanced  sentence  :  "He  has  entered  the  innermost  of 
the  temple  of  eternity,  and  left  us  treading  in  the  vesti- 
bule." A  local  touch  is  :  "He  walks  not  the  aisles  of 
yonder  building" — Dartmouth  Hall  being  the  only  one 
to  be  mentioned;  and  as  we  stroll  in  our  beautiful  grave- 
yard we  may  recall  that  it  has  been  commemorated  in 
such  sonorous  words  as  these  :  "All  of  him  that  was 
mortal  now  lies  in  the  charnels  of  yonder  cemetery.  By 
the  grass  that  nods  over  the  mounds  of  Sumner,  Merrill, 
and  Cook,  now  rests  a  fourth  son  of  Dartmouth,  con- 
stituting another  monument  of  man's  mortality.  The 
sun,  as  it  sinks  to  the  ocean  [sic],  plays  its  departing 
beams  on  his  tomb,  but  they  re-animate  him  not.  The 
cold  sod  presses  on  his  bosom,  his  hands  hang  down  in 
weakness.  The  bird  of  evening  shouts  a  melancholy 
air  on  the  poplar,  but  her  voice  is  stillness  to  his  ears." 
The  stones  of  Sumner,  Merrill,  Cook,  andSimonds  still 
stand  side  by  side  in  the  older  part  of  our  "dead  man's 
garden";  that  of  Simonds  was  set  up  by  the  United 
Fraternity  soon  after  his  death. 

The  most  salient  and  illustrating  event  of  Webster's 
whole  college  career  was  the  Fourth  of  July  oration  de- 
livered in  the  closing  year  of  the  eighteenth  century  be- 
fore the  citizens  of  Hanover.  With  all  its  faults,  it  was, 

45 


Charles  and  it  remains,  an  interesting  anticipation  of  the  vital 
Francis  belief  and  life-work  of  the  greatest  American  orator, 
Richardson  concerning  a  thing  that  was  destined  to  be  profoundly 
connected  with  the  struggles  of  the  next  seventy-five 
years  :  the  nature  and  powers  of  the  Federal  Union  of 
states  of  the  western  world.  In  this  microcosm  we  have 
in  a  crude  form  several  of  the  future  orator's  most 
prominent  qualities  :  his  mingling  of  Latin  derivatives 
with  old  English  words ;  his  balanced  periods,  alter- 
nating with  language  of  straight-forward  simplicity  ; 
and,  above  all,  an  occasional  suggestion  of  that  power 
in  which  he  surpasses  Demosthenes,  Cicero,  and  Burke, 
the  power  of  making  the  very  point  under  discussion 
seem  so  axiomatic  as  to  render  debate  almost  superfluous. 
Webster  was  afterward  ashamed  of  some  of  the  bathetic 
passages  in  this  speech,  which  would  certainly  be  ob- 
noxious to  the  blue  pencils  of  our  instructors  in  rhetoric 
in  the  Dartmouth  of  to-day.  The  '  'gasconading  pilgrim 
of  Egypt"  was  naturally  a  bugaboo  in  the  dawning  cen- 
tury, and  the  embrace  of  France,  which,  "not  yet  sa- 
tiated with  the  contortions  of  expiring  republics,"  had 
"spouted  her  fury  across  the  Atlantic,"  was  death; 
therefore  the  young  orator  proffered,  as  his  final  question 
and  answer,  the  startling  query  :  "Shall  we  pronounce 
the  sad  benediction  to  Freedom,  and  immolate  liberty 
on  the  altar  our  fathers  had  raised  to  her  !  No  !  The 
response  of  a  nation  is,  no  !  Let  it  be  registered  on  the 
archives  of  Heaven  :  ere  the  religion  we  profess,  and 
the  privileges  we  enjoy,  are  sacrificed  at  the  shrines  of 
despots  and  demagogues  let  the  pillars  of  creation 
tremble  !  Let  world  be  wrecked  on  world,  and  sys- 
tems rush  to  ruin  !"  But  other  parts  of  the  speech  are 
46 


significant  in  a  different  way.  The  eulogist  of  the  Pil-  Charles 
grim  Fathers  is  foreshadowed  in  this  passage  :  "We  be-  Francis 
hold  a  feeble  band  of  colonists,  engaged  in  the  arduous  Richardson 
undertaking  of  a  new  settlement  in  the  wilds  of  North 
America.  Their  civil  liberty  being  mutilated,  and  the 
enjoyment  of  their  religious  sentiments  denied  them  in 
the  land  that  gave  them  birth,  they  fled  their  country, 
they  braved  the  dangers  of  the  then  almost  unnavigated 
ocean,  and  sought  on  the  other  side  the  globe  an  asylum 
from  the  iron  grasp  of  tyranny  and  the  more  intolerable 
scourge  of  ecclesiastical  persecution."  And  the  Adams 
and  Jefferson  speech  seems  anticipated  in  these  words  of 
the  boy  of  eighteen  :  "The  solemn  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence is  now  pronounced,  amidst  crowds  of  admir- 
ing citizens,  by  the  supreme  council  of  our  nation,  and 
received  with  the  unbounded  plaudits  of  a  grateful  peo- 
ple. That  was  the  hour  when  patriotism  was  proved, 
when  the  souls  of  men  were  tried.  It  was  then,  ye  ven- 
erable patriots,  it  was  then  you  stretched  the  indignant 
arm,  and  unitedly  swore  to  be  free.  Despising  such 
toys  as  subjugated  empires,  you  then  knew  no  middle 
fortune  between  liberty  and  death.  Firmly  relying  on 
the  patronage  of  Heaven,  un warped  in  the  resolution 
you  had  taken,  you  then,  undaunted,  met,  engaged,  de- 
feated the  gigantic  power  of  Britain,  and  rose  trium- 
phant over  the  ruins  of  your  enemies.  Trenton,  Prince- 
ton, Bennington,  and  Saratoga  were  the  successive 
theatres  of  your  victories,  and  the  utmost  bounds  of 
creation  are  the  limits  to  your  fame."  This  is  Web- 
sterian  English  ;  nor  is  it  too  much  to  say  that  we  also 
hear  the  religious  note  of  Lincoln  in  the  solemn  sen- 
tence :  "If  piety  be  the  rational  exercise  of  the  human 

47 


Charles  soul,  if  religion  be  not  a  chimera,  and  if  the  vestiges  of 

Francis  heavenly  assistance  are  clearly  traced  in  those  events 

Richardson  which  mark  the  annals  of  our  nation,  it  becomes  us  on 

this  day,  in  consideration  of  the  great  things  which  the 

Lord  has  done  for  us,  to  render  the  tribute  of  unfeigned 

thanks  to  God  who  superintends  the  universe  and  holds 

aloft  the  scale  that  weighs  the  destinies  of  nations." 

Passing  an  interesting  illustration  of  the  triplicate 
form  which  Webster  was  so  frequently  to  use — "For  us 
they  fought,  for  us  they  bled,  for  us  they  conquered" — 
and  an  allusion  to  "Dartmouth,  towering  majestic  above 
the  groves  which  encircle  her,"  and  now  inscribing 
"her  glory  on  the  registers  of  fame,"  we  find  the  key- 
note of  the  speech,  the  sign  of  the  life-work  of  Webster 
the  expounder  of  Constitutional  Union,  in  these  words  : 
"No  sooner  was  peace  restored  with  England,  the  first 
grand  article  of  which  was  the  acknowledgment  of  our 
independence,  than  the  old  system  of  confederation, 
dictated  at  first  by  necessity,  and  adopted  for  the  pur- 
poses of  the  moment,  was  found  inadequate  to  the  gov- 
ernment of  an  extensive  empire.  Under  a  full  convic- 
tion of  this,  we  then  saw  the  people  of  these  states  en- 
gaged in  a  transaction  which  is  undoubtedly  the  great- 
est approximation  toward  human  perfection  the  politi- 
cal world  ever  yet  experienced,  and  which,  perhaps, 
will  forever  stand  on  the  history  of  mankind  without  a 
parallel.  A  great  republic,  composed  of  different  states, 
whose  interest,  in  all  respects,  could  not  be  perfectly 
compatible,  then  came  deliberately  forward,  discarded 
one  system  of  government,  and  adopted  another,  with- 
out the  loss  of  one  man's  blood.  There  is  not  a  single 
government  now  existing  in  Europe  which  is  not  based 
48 


in  usurpation,  and  established,  if  established  at  all,  by  Charles 
the  sacrifice  of  thousands.     But,  in  the  adoption  of  our  Francis 
present  system  of  jurisprudence,  we  seethe  powers  nee- Richardson 
essary  for  the  government  voluntarily  springing  from 
the  people,  their  only  proper  origin,  and  directed  to  the 
public  good,  their  only  proper  object." 

While  an  undergraduate,  Webster  was  keenly  inter- 
ested in  national  politics,  being,  like  most  of  the  faculty 
and  constituency  of  the  College,  Federalist  in  sympathy. 
From  "Beechnut  Hall,  Hanover,  Dec.  28,  1800,"  he 
wrote  :  "Long  are  the  faces  of  the  Hanoverians.  Jef- 
ferson's Presidency,  which  now  seems  certain,  sits  not 
very  well  on  our  stomachs.  All  the  tonics  of  our  politi- 
cal faculty  cannot  make  it  digest  readily.  Burr,  too, 
nettles  us  more  than  any  vegetable  burr  in  our  fields. 
However,  what  cannot  be  cured  must  be  endured."  In 
the  same  letter  he  added,  on  a  more  general  theme :  "I 
am  fully  persuaded  that  our  happiness  is  much  at  our 
regulation,  and  that  the  'know  thyself  of  the  Greek 
philosopher  meant  no  more  than  rightly  to  attune  and 
soften  our  appetites  and  passions  till  they  should  sym- 
phonize  like  the  harp  of  David.  Mr.  Stewart  has  shown 
us  some  fine  ideas  on  it.  He  is  an  author  whom  I  ad- 
mire more  than  any  writer  I  have  perused." 

He  who  wrote  thus  had  a  heart  as  well  as  a  mind. 
No  episode  in  Webster's  college  course  meant  more  to 
him  than  the  arrival  of  his  brother  Ezekiel,  accompanied 
by  his  father,  in  March,  1801,  to  join  the  Freshman 
class  ;  then  and  for  several  years  to  be  aided  intellect- 
ually and  financially  by  his  loyal  predecessor  in  college 
life.  The  Kentucky  novelist,  James  Lane  Allen,  in  his 
recent  picture  of  the  poverty  brought  upon  a  hemp- 

49 


Charles  farmer  by  his  son's  residence,  for  a  year  or  two,  in  an 
Francis  inexpensive  college,  could  present  to  us  nothing  more 
Richardson  effective  than  Webster's  own  account  of  the  Salisbury 
household  immediately  after  his  graduation  :  "Return- 
ing home  after  Commencement,  I  found,  on  considera- 
tion, that  it  would  be  impossible  for  my  father,  under  ex- 
isting circumstances,  to  keep  Ezekiel  at  college.  Drained 
of  all  his  little  income  by  the  expenses  of  my  educa- 
tion thus  far,  and  broken  down  in  his  exertions  by  some 
family  occurrences,  I  saw  he  could  not  afford  Ezekiel 
means  to  live  abroad  with  ease  and  independence, 
and  I  knew  too  well  the  evils  of  penury  to  wish  him  to 
stay  half  beggared  at  college.  I  thought  it,  therefore, 
my  duty  to  suffer  some  delay  in  my  profession,  for  the 
sake  of  serving  my  elder  brother,  and  was  making  a 
little  interest  in  some  places  to  the  eastward  for  employ- 
ment." Never  has  there  been  a  time,  from  that  day  to 
this,  as  some  of  you  know  by  your  own  tender  memo- 
ries, when  Dartmouth  men  have  not  made  a  little  inter- 
est for  employment,  and  suffered  some  delay  in  their 
profession,  that  they  might  give  a  brother  the  power  to 
enjoy  the  advantages  of  the  college  of  their  love. 

A  lie  dies  with  proverbial  procrastination  ;  like  the 
snapping- turtle's  heart,  when  thrown  on  the  pavement, 
it  persistently  beats  long  after  life  has  left  the  rest  of  the 
sluggish  body.  But  surely,  after  a  hundred  years,  it  is 
time  to  give  final  interment  to  the  venerable  mendacity 
that  Webster,  on  Commencement  day,  withdrew  to  the 
rear  of  Dartmouth  Hall  and  tore  up  his  diploma.  It 
rests  upon  no  authority  ;  it  is  contradicted  by  common 
sense ;  it  is  inconsistent  with  Webster's  frequent  visits 
to  Hanover  within  a  few  years  of  his  graduation,  and 
50 


his  affecionate  correspondence  concerning  the  town  and  Charles 
the  College,  to  which  he  sent  his  brother  and  his  son ;  Francis 
and  it  is  explicitly  denied  by  his  chief  biographer  and  Kicharoson 
literary  executor,  as  well  as  by  Professor  Shurtleff  and 
other  immediate  contemporaries  or  eye-witnesses  of  his 
graduation,  some  of  whom  never  heard  of  it  until  a 
quarter  of  a  century  later.  His  class-mate  Smith  stood 
at  Webster's  side  when  he  "received  his  degree  with  a 
graceful  bow";  and  the  same  clergyman  adds  :  "Such 
was  my  connection  with  him  in  our  society  affairs  that 
if  he  had  destroyed  it  afterwards  should  certainly  have 
known  it."  Far  truer  would  be  the  assertion  that  no 
graduate  of  an  American  college,  by  the  acts  and  words 
of  a  lifetime — words  culminating  in  the  most  famous  of 
tributes  to  an  institution  of  learning — ever  gave  more 
distinguished  proof  of  his  love  for  the  seminary  where 
he  began  his  work  for  the  world.  Let  there  bepraeterea 
nihil  of  Charles  Lanman's  poor  fable  of  the  torn  diploma, 
thrown  to  the  winds  on  the  alleged  "green"  east  of 
Dartmouth  Hall,  while  Webster  shouted,  as  a  valedic- 
tory oration:  "My  industry  may  make  me  a  great 
man,  but  this  miserable  parchment  cannot";  or  of 
Theodore  Parker's  gratuitous  inaccuracy  that  he 
"scorned  his  degree,  and  when  the  faculty  gave  him  his 
diploma,  he  tore  it  to  pieces  in  the  College  yard,  in  the 
presence  of  some  of  his  mates,  it  is  said,  and  trod  it 
under  foot."  It  must  have  been  a  matter  of  regret  to 
these  two  historical  thinkers  that  a  third  authority  in  a 
published  wood-cut  portrayed  the  scene  as  visible  in  a 
third  locality,  the  rear  of  the  College  church.  The  truth 
concerning  his  own  disappointment,  or  the  keener  regret 
of  his  class-mates,  over  his  failure  to  receive  a  Commence- 

5J 


Charles    ment  part  is  probably  to  be  found  in  the  recollections  of 
Francis   Judge  Samuel  Swift,  who  said  that  Thomas  A.  Merrill, 
Richardson    afterwards  pastor   in  Middlebury,  Vt.  (the  judge's  own 
home),   was   deemed  by  the  faculty  the  most  correct 
recitation  scholar  in  the  class,  and  thus  given  the  salu- 
tatory, the  first  appointment  for    Commencement,  the 
class  being  allowed  to  elect  the  valedictorian,  which  they 
failed  to  do,  because  of  a  Social   and  Frater  quarrel, 
desiring  and  expecting,  however,  that  the  faculty  would 
appoint  Webster,  which  was  not  done.     In  other  words, 
there  seems  to  have  been  a  "class  row,"  after  which 
some  of  Webster's  class-mates  blamed  the  faculty  for  not 
doing  what  they  had  failed  to  do  themselves.     ' {  As  long 
as  Webster  lived,"  said  Professor  Sanborn,  "  he  believed 
society  feuds  deprived  him  of  his  honors,"  an  influen- 
tial professor  having  belonged  to  the  Social  Friends; 
but  the  same  authority  adds  :       "I  cannot  say  that  Mr. 
Webster's  suspicions  were  well  grounded."      The  idea 
of  professorial  confusion  between  society  prejudices  and 
undergraduate   appointments   is   more   prevalent   than 
sound.      It  seems  that  the  faculty  offered  Webster  the 
choice  between  an  English  poem  or  an  English  oration, 
neither  of  which  he  felt  at  liberty  to  take,  for  reasons 
now  obscure,  so  that  he  and  some  others  were  "excused 
from  speaking,"  on  their  own  motion.       Webster  was 
too  large  a  man  to  allow  a  real  or  fancied  grievance  to 
cloud  Commencement  day  or  his  tender  memories  of  the 
"small  college"  he  did  so  much  to  make  famous ;  and 
meanwhile  he  satisfied  the  Fraternity  division  of  his 
class  by  giving  an  oration  the  day  before  Commence- 
ment.     Caleb  Tenney,  afterwards  a  minister  in  Rhode 
Island  and   Connecticut,  was   the  man   who   got   the 

52 


valedictory  appointment.  Judge  Swift  thought  Tenney  Charles 
a  good  scholar  and  an  excellent  young  man.  The  same  Francis 
judicial  authority,  I  may  add,  bore  testimony  to  the  Richardson 
fact  that  Webster,  while  not  technically  "leading  the 
class,"  had  the  best  all-round  mind  and  the  broadest 
influence,  a  condition  which  has  very  often  been  repeat- 
ed in  subsequent  classes,  in  the  opinion  of  those  of  us 
who,  though  possibly  not  Websters,  were  certainly  not 
valedictorians.  Dr.  Merrill,  the  Latin  salutatorian  and 
highest  scholar,  himself,  modestly  wrote  in  1853  that 
"the  Faculty  thought  it  would  be  almost  barbarous  to 
set  the  best  English  scholar  in  the  class  [Webster]  to 
jabber  in  Latin."  While  quoting  Dr.  Merrill,  let  me 
suggest  to  those  of  you  who  may  similarly  be  called 
upon  for  reminiscences  of  famous  class-mates,  to  copy 
the  discreet  form  elsewhere  adopted  by  him  when  asked 
for  recollections  of  Webster  :  "I  presume,  confidently, 
that  he  was  never  concerned  in  any  mischief.  I  suppose 
that  he  acted  upon  the  principle  of  mastering  his  lessons 
and  attending  on  all  the  exercises  of  the  college,  both 
literary  and  religious." 

But  we  must  not  dwell  longer  upon  the  earlier  days 
of  one  whose  later  years  were  to  be  so  rich  and  full. 

It  is  the  power  of  the  poet  to  gather  into  a  few  lum- 
inous words  some  fadeless  picture  of  memory  or  imagi- 
nation. Seldom  has  a  lifetime  been  more  successfully 
portrayed  in  four  lines  than  in  one  stanza  of  Oliver 
Wendell  Holmes'  poem  on  the  birthday  of  Daniel  Web- 
ster, written  four  years  after  the  statesman's  death.  The 
signer,  as  well  as  the  subject,  had  trodden  Dartmouth 
ground  and  sat  within  these  walls  ;  and  so  it  was  natur- 
al that  one  line  of  this  comprehensive  stanza  should  be 

53 


Charles  devoted  to  Webster's  college  life.     Let  me  close  by  re- 
Francis  calling  his  fitly  chosen  words,  for  they  must  often  recur 
Richardson  to   our   minds   during  the   remaining   hours   of    these 
memorial  days : 

"A  roof  beneath  the  mountain  pines  ; 
The  cloisters  of  a  hill-girt  plain ; 
The  front  of  life's  embattled  lines  ; 

A  mound  beside  the  heaving  main." 


THe  Development  of  tKe  College 
Since  tKe  Dartmouth  College 
Case. 

<Address  by  Prof essor  John  King  Lord,  Ph.  2X,  '68. 

HE  history  of  the  College,  like  that  of  the  coun- 
try, presents  several  well  marked  periods.  There 
is  the  period  of  discovery  and  settlement,  the  pe- 
riod of  storm  and  struggle,  and  the  period  of  later  de- 
velopment. The  first  two  periods,  including  Eleazar 
Wheel ock's  coming  to  New  Hampshire  and  the  found- 
ing of  the  College,  and  the  contest  between  the  College 
and  the  State  settled  by  the  decision  of  the  Supreme 
Court  at  Washington,  are  romantic,  exciting  and  well 
known.  The  last  period,  covering  more  time  nearly 
twice  over  than  the  other  two,  presents  few  points  of  in- 
terest except  such  as  are  naturally  connected  with  the 
growth  of  an  institution.  It  is  my  purpose  to-day  to 
give  a  brief  outline  of  the  change  of  the  "  small  college" 
of  Daniel  Webster's  day  into  the  larger  institution 
whose  one  hundred  and  thirty-two  years  are  crowned 

54 


with  honor  and  influence,  and  lighted  with  the  promise  John 
of  still  greater  good.  King 

The  condition  of  the  College  after  the  decision  at  Lord 
Washington  was  lamentable  in  the  extreme.  It  was  in- 
deed victorious  ;  it  had  established  its  rights,  but  it  had 
little  else  in  which  to  rejoice.  Its  two  buildings  were 
in  poor  condition,  while  its  property  was  scanty  and  in 
disorder.  Most  of  this  was  in  lands,  and  tenants,  while 
the  rival  claims  of  the  College  and  the  State  were  un- 
settled, had  hesitated  in  paying  rents  and  after  the  case 
was  adjudicated  were  slow  to  respond  to  the  demands  of 
the  College  trustees  for  what  was  due.  There  had 
been  some  loss  in  tuition,  and  in  1819  the  trustees  es- 
timated their  loss  in  tuition,  room-rents,  fees,  etc.,  at 
$8,771.50.  In  addition  to  the  disorganization  of  its  in- 
come the  College  was  in  debt  to  its  own  officers  for  over- 
due salaries,  to  outsiders  for  money  borrowed,  and  to 
the  estate  of  John  Wheelock,  so  that  in  1820  a  com- 
mittee of  the  trustees  reported  the  resources  of  the  Col- 
lege, at  a  favorable  reckoning,  as  falling  below  its  lia- 
bilities by  $2,924.95.  The  victory  of  the  College  had 
not  turned  opponents  into  friends,  and  a  large  portion  of 
the  state  was  unwilling  to  render  any  assistance  even  if 
it  did  not  actually  support  plans  of  a  hostile  nature. 
But  the  crowning  disaster  was  the  death  of  its  able  and 
beloved  president,  Francis  Brown,  who  worn  out  by  his 
labors  died  on  the  27th  of  July,  1820. 

On  the  other  hand  the  trustees  still  held  to  their 
purpose,  and  were  determined  that  victory  should  not 
be  mocked  by  despair.  To  their  support  came  a  large 
party,  especially  the  clergymen  of  the  state,  while  the 
student  body  held  to  its  allegiance  and  maintained  its 

55 


John  numbers.     Using   their   victory    with   moderation   the 
King  trustees  received  the  students  of   the  University  on  the 
Lord  same  terms  as  students  from  any  New  England  college, 
and  endeavored  in  other  ways  to  conciliate  their  oppo- 
nents. 

What  they  had  most  to  fear  was  the  establishment 
of  a  rival  college  in  the  state,  and  plans  to  this  end 
were  several  times  broached.  The  Medical  College,  in 
which  the  State  had  an  interest,  was  a  nucleus  about 
which  many  schemes  gathered,  one  in  particular  being 
a  proposition  by  a  Dr.  Alexander  Ramsay,  a  Scotch- 
man, to  open  with  the  aid  of  the  State  a  Medical  School 
at  Concord.  But  the  good  sense  of  the  State  prevailed 
and  one  after  another  all  these  schemes  fell  through. 
Yet  they  caused  anxiety,  and  at  one  time  the  trustees, 
in  recognition  of  the  interest  of  the  State,  proposed  as  a 
counter  move  that  a  board  of  overseers,  similar  to  the 
one  in  the  University,  with  a  veto  power  on  the  board 
of  trustees,  be  appointed  by  the  governor  and  be  self- 
perpetuating.  The  suggestion  seems  to  have  come  in 
all  good  faith  from  President  Allen  of  the  University 
and  to  have  found  much  favor  with  the  trustees,  but  it 
was  abandoned  under  the  emphatic  advice  of  Mr.  Web- 
ster, who  saw  in  it  only  ill.  In  1825  a  bill  was  intro- 
duced into  the  New  Hampshire  House  to  establish  such 
a  board,  accompanied  by  a  grant  (one  half  of  the  liter- 
ary fund  and  one  half  the  receipts  from  it  for  ten  years) , 
but  it  was  postponed  till  the  next  session  and  never  re- 
appeared. In  1827  a  bill  to  establish  a  state  institution 
in  Merrimac  county  to  be  called  the  * '  New  Hampshire 
University  "  passed  the  Senate,  but  was  rejected  in  the 
House  at  the  first  reading  by  a  vote  of  121  to  58,  so 

56 


great  a  change  had  come  over  that  body.     With  that  John 
vote  ended  the  apprehension  of  hostile  legislation.  King 

The  succession  to  the  presidency  caused  much 
anxiety.  The  Rev.  Daniel  Dana,  D.  D.,  of  Newbury- 
port,  Mass.,  a  graduate  of  1788,  who  was  chosen  to  suc- 
ceed Pres.  Brown,  entered  on  office  Oct.  25,  1820,  but 
almost  immediately  his  health  failed  and  he  resigned 
within  the  year.  After  some  delay  the  Rev.  Bennett 
Tyler  of  South  Britain,  Conn.,  was  chosen  in  his  place 
and  was^naugurated  March  27, 1822.  He  was  a  preacher 
of  unusual  excellence,  of  winning  personality,  and  of 
earnestness,  well  adapted  to  gain  friends  for  the  College. 
The  years  of  his  administration  were  years  of  recovery, 
of  reorganization  and  of  preparation.  In  fact  the  de- 
cision of  the  controversy  was  hardly  made  when  steps 
were  taken  to  advance.  During  the  four  years  from 
1815  all  the  instruction  in  the  College  had  been  given 
by  the  President,  Professors  Adams  and  Shurtliff,  and 
two  tutors.  In  1819  the  faculty  was  enlarged  by  the 
appointment  of  the  Rev.  Charles  B.  Haddock  as  profes- 
sor of  rhetoric  and  oratory.  In  1820  Wm.  Chamber- 
lain was  elected  professor  of  Greek  and  L,atin,  and  the 
medical  faculty  was  strengthened  by  a  professor  of 
chemistry.  In  1823  there  was  established  the  chair  of 
natural  philosophy,  and  for  the  first  time  in  the  cata- 
logue the  distinction  was  made  between  the  "Academi- 
cal" and  the  "Medical"  departments,  indicative  of  the 
enlarging  ideas.  In  1826  the  Sophomore  tutor  was  dis- 
continued and  the  class  put  in  charge  of  a  professor. 
The  appointment  of  Professor  Haddock  was  followed  by 
the  establishment  of  rhetorical  and  oratorical  prizes,  the 
money  for  the  prizes  being  given  partly  by  individuals 

57 


John  and  partly  by  the  trustees,  and  of  rhetorical  exhibitions 

King  of  the  three  upper  classes,  called  from  the  time  of  their 

Lord  occurrence,  in  November,  March  and    May,    "Quarter 

Days."     The  two  literary  societies  of  the  College,  the 

Social  Friends  and  the  United  Fraternity,  were  brought 

into  renewed  activity  and  a  strong   stimulus  given  to 

literary  and  rhetorical  study. 

The  movement  of  College  life  and  indeed  the  prog- 
ress of  the  College  may  best  be  seen  from  matters  that 
are  in  themselves  of  no  great  moment.  In  1820  the 
catalogue,  then  published  by  the  Sophomore  class,  was 
changed  from  a  broadside  into  a  pamphlet,  though  still 
but  a  list  of  names,  and  first  in  1822  contained  the  terms 
of  admission  which  were  as  follows  :  It  was  required 
"that  the  candidate  be  well  versed  in  the  Grammar  of 
the  English,  Latin  and  Greek  languages,  in  Virgil, 
Cicero's  Select  Orations,  Sallust,  the  Greek  Testament, 
Dalzel's  Collectanea  Graeca  Minora,  Latin  and  Greek 
Prosody,  Arithmetick,  and  Ancient  and  Modern  Geogra- 
phy ;  and  that  he  be  able  accurately  to  translate  English 
into  Latin."  In  1823  the  catalogue  contained  the 
names  of  the  state  officers,  ex  officio  members  of  the 
board  in  relation  to  funds  given  by  the  state,  and  was 
printed  by  Isaac  Hill,  the  publisher  of  the  N.  H.  Patriot, 
and  the  leader  of  the  former  University  party,  indica- 
tions of  the  change  in  feeling.  In  that  same  year  and 
the  next  President  Tyler  solicited  a  fund  of  $10,000, 
now  known  as  the  "Charity  Fund,"  the  income  of 
which  was  to  be  used  in  paying  the  tuition  of  students 
intending  to  be  ministers.  Toward  this  fund  Mr.  Hill 
gave  $50.  In  1822  stoves  were  put  into  Dartmouth 
Hall  and  the  fireplaces,  which  hitherto  had  been\he 
58 


only  means  of  heating,  were  bricked  up.  Think,  ye  John 
that  in  1901  complain  of  steam-heated  radiators,  what  King 
Dartmouth  Hall  was  in  1822  !  In  1824  the  recitation  Lord 
rooms,  which  had  been  the  rooms  of  the  students  them- 
selves, and  had  been  furnished  and  cared  for  by  them, 
were  provided  and  furnished  by  the  College.  In  the 
same  year  the  policy  of  the  College  in  the  treatment  of 
negroes  was  settled.  Edward  Mitchell,  a  negro  born  in 
Martinique,  W.  I.,  who  had  accompanied  President 
Brown  on  his  return  from  the  South  in  1820,  having 
since  that  time  been  an  inmate  of  his  house,  applied  for 
admission  to  College.  The  trustees  at  first  declined  to 
admit  him,  fearing  that  his  presence  would  not  be  ac- 
ceptable to  the  students,  but  they  on  hearing  of  the  mat- 
ter held  a  meeting  and  requested  that  he  might  be 
admitted.  He  was  admitted  and  was  graduated  in 
1828. 

A  College  uniform  was  adopted  in  1825,  approved 
by  the  faculty  and  trustees,  but  not  made  compulsory. 
"It  consisted  of  a  black  single-breasted  coat  with  roll- 
ing collar,  having  on  the  left  breast  a  sprigged  diamond 
three  and  a  half  inches  long  and  three  inches  wide  :  and 
on  the  left  sleeve  half  a  sprigged  diamond  for  Freshmen, 
two  halves  placed  one  above  the  other  for  Sophomores, 
three  for  Juniors,  and  four  for  Seniors  :  with  black  or 
white  pantaloons,  stockings,  vests  and  cravats.  '  It 
was  quite  generally  adopted,  but  survived  no  longer 
than  the  first  suit  lasted." 

The  life  of  the  students  was  very  frugal.  "Most 
of  them,"  says  a  student  of  the  time,  "defrayed  their 
expenses  by  teaching  school.  *  *  There  was  among 
them  great  plainness  of  dress  and  furniture,  and  great 

59 


John  freedom  from  all  forms  of  expensive  amusement  and  dis- 
king sipation."  Their  surroundings  and  discipline  were 
Lo*d  Spartan.  As  is  well  known,  morning  prayers  were  held 
as  soon  as  it  was  light  enough  to  read  and  a  recitation 
was  held  before  breakfast.  Evening  prayers  were  held 
at  five  o'clock,  or  as  late  as  the  light  permitted,  and  on 
Tuesdays  a  "dissertation  by  one  of  the  Seniors  followed 
the  religious  exercises."  -  Morning  chapel  continued  to 
be  held  before  breakfast  till  1856,  and  evening  prayers 
were  given  up  only  in  1863.  The  chapel  had  no  means 
of  heating  and  fervency  of  devotion  was  the  only  pro- 
tection against  the  winter's  cold.  On  Sundays  the  stu- 
dents attended  morning  and  evening  prayers  and  also 
forenoon  and  afternoon  services  in  the  church,  while  a 
biblical  exercise  was  attended  in  the  evening  or  Monday 
morning.  "During  the  Sabbath,"  so  ran  the  laws  of 
the  College,  "each  student  shall  remain  in  his  chamber 
unless  the  duties  of  public  worship  or  acts  of  necessity 
or  mercy  call  him  elsewhere — and  whoever  shall  on  that 
day  attend  to  any  secular  business  or  to  diversion,  or 
shall  make  any  improper  noise,  or  shall  unnecessarily 
walk  in  the  fields  or  streets  or  elsewhere  shall  be  subject 
to  the  penalties  mentioned  in  the  foregoing  section." 
Cards,  dice  and  all  unlawful  games  were  prohibited,  as 
well  as  the  keeping  or  firing  of  gunpowder  in  or  near 
the  College  premises.  Fines  were  a  common  form  of 
discipline,  and  five  to  twenty-five  cents  were  imposed 
for  failure  to  perform  an  exercise,  but  "  one  recitation 
and  two  prayers  per  week  [were]  free  from  fines." 

The  faculty  '  'was  particularly  and  earnestly  recom- 
mended" by  the  trustees  "to  exercise  as  far  as  possible  a 
parental  authority,  to  inform  themselves  concerning  each 

60 


one's  moral  and  literary  character  *  *  and  in  frequent  John 
and  familiar  intercourse  to  administer  caution,    counsel  King 
and  encouragement,   *   *  to  reprove  any  known  viola-  Lord 
tion  of  decorum  and  to  check  every  perceived  tendency 
to   negligence   or   dissipation."     That   this    might  be 
secured  there  were  to  be  weekly  visitations  of  students 
in  their  rooms,  by  members  of  the  faculty  assigned  for 
that  purpose. 

President  Tyler  resigned  in  1828,  being  drawn  to 
the  work  of  the  pulpit  for  which  he  was  eminently  fit- 
ted. In  his  stead  was  chosen  the  Rev.  Nathan  Lord, 
D.  D.,  a  graduate  of  Bowdoin  in  1809,  then  a  minister 
in  Amherst,  N.  H.,  and  already  a  trustee  of  the  College. 
After  much  hesitation  he  accepted  and  was  inaugurated 
October  29,  1828.  Two  years  before  a  committee  of 
the  trustees,  of  which  he  was  the  leading  member,  had 
been  appointed  "to  take  into  consideration  the  whole 
internal  affairs  of  the  College."  Their  report  together 
with  one  made  by  a  similar  committee,  of  which  Mr. 
Lord  was  chairman,  two  years  later,  became  the  basis 
of  far-reaching  changes.  Fines  were  abolished,  the 
marking  system  was  introduced,  the  courses  of  study 
re-arranged,  examination  for  entrance  by  at  least  three 
members  of  the  faculty,  a  name  first  used  in  1828,  was 
required,  provision  made  for  an  examining  committee 
from  abroad,  and  an  annual  report  by  the  president  on 
the  state  of  the  College  was  provided  for.  It  is  interest- 
ing to  note  that  the  report  contains  a  discussion  of  the 
place  of  Greek  in  college  and  leans  decidedly  to  the 
view  that  it  should  be  elective.  Within  two  years  sever- 
al changes  took  place  in  the  faculty.  A  new  depart- 
ment of  moral  philosophy  and  political  economy  was 

61 


John  established  and  also  one  of  chemistry  and  mineralogy, 

King  and  in  1829  "Algebra  to  simple  Equations,  an  abridged 

Lord  system  of   Rhetorick  and  some  History  of   the  United 

States"  were  added  to  the  requirements  for  admission, 

but  the  last  two  were  withdrawn  in  1837. 

The  number  of  students  which  from  1815  to  1820 
had  been  about  one  hundred  had  increased  under  Presi- 
dent Tyler  to  about  one  hundred  and  seventy  besides 
the  medical  students  who  numbered  about  one  hundred, 
but  for  a  few  years  had  declined,  the  impression  having 
gained  ground  that  the  buildings  of  the  College  were 
decayed  and  that  accommodations  were  not  as  good  as 
elsewhere.  In  1827  the  trustees  recognizing  the  situa- 
tion voted  thoroughly  to  repair  the  buildings,  two  in 
number,  Dartmouth  Hall  and  the  chapel,  which  stood 
nearly  on  the  present  site  of  Thornton  Hall,  to  clear  the 
grounds  and  to  surround  them  by  a  fence,  and  that  a 
subscription  of  fifty  thousand  dollars  be  started  with 
special  reference  to  new  buildings.  The  work  lagging 
it  was  voted  the  next  year  to  repair  "The  College,"  and 
to  remove  the  chapel  and  to  erect  two  new  buildings  of 
brick  at  an  estimated  cost  of  $12,000.  The  foundations 
of  the  two  buildings,  Thornton  and  Wentworth  Halls, 
were  laid  by  Aug.  1828  and  the  buildings  were  complet- 
ed in  October  1820..  The  cost  exceeded  $16,000.  A 
"suitable  fence"  was  built  in  front  of  the  College  yard, 
the  dial  face  in  the  western  gable  of  Dartmouth  Hall 
was  first  made  alive  with  a  clock,  and  the  bell  was  hung 
which  called  the  students  to  their  work  for  nearly  forty 
years  till  it  cracked  in  1867.  The  subscription,  which 
was  conditioned  on  raising  $30,000,  was  vigorously 
begun  by  President  Tyler  and  later  completed  by  Presi- 
62 


dent  Lord,  though  made  binding  in  the  end  only  by  a  John 
subscription  of  $700  by  himself.  King 

The  decade  beginning  with  1830  was  marked  by  Lord 
great  changes  and  great  growth.  The  spring  of  that 
year  was  also  made  remarkable  by  a  College  rebellion. 
The  uncertainties  incident  to  a  change  of  administration, 
the  issuing  of  a  new  and  more  stringent  code  of  laws  by 
the  trustees,  the  change  in  the  course  of  study  with  the 
rigorous  requirement  of  an  afternoon  recitation,  hither- 
to largely  a  matter  of  form,  and  the  occupancy  of  the 
new  dormitory  bringing  the  students  into  closer  associa- 
tion, resulted  in  "various  irregularities  and  disturbances 
which  the  ordinary  influences  of  authority  could  not 
prevent."  Several  students  were  severely  disciplined 
and  the  College  rose  in  rebellion,  but  President  Lord  in 
addressing  it  uttered  the  famous  sentence,  effective  then, 
and  throughout  his  administration,  "Go,  young  gentle- 
men, if  you  wish,  we  can  bear  to  see  our  seats  vacated, 
but  not  our  laws  violated,"  and  authority  was  restored. 

The  changes  in  the  faculty  were  many.  In  1831 
Calvin  E.  Stowe  took  the  chair  of  Greek  and  Latin,  but 
was  succeeded  two  years  later  by  the  accomplished 
scholar  Alpheus  Crosby.  With  him  was  associated  in 
1835  Edwin  D.  Sanborn,  whom  so  many  of  the  graduates 
of  the  middle  life  most  cordially  remember,  and  who  in 

1837  on  the  division  of  the  chair  became  professor    of 
Latin.     Oliver  P.  Hubbard,  who  died  but  a  little  over  a 
year  ago,  entered  the  faculty  in  1836  as   associate  pro- 
fessor of  physical  sciences,  but  the  next  year  he  became 
professor  of  chemistry,    mineralogy   and  geology.       In 

1838  Rev.  David  Peabody  took  the  chair  of  rhetoric  and 
oratory  in  place  of  Professor  Haddock  who  in  turn  had 

63 


John  succeeded  Dr.  Oliver  in  the  chair  of  intellectual  philos- 
King  ophy,  to  which  was  joined  English  literature.  Natural 
Lord  philosophy  and  mathematics  were  also  separated,  Ira 
Young  retaining  the  former,  and  Stephen  Chase  being 
made  professor  of  mathematics.  In  this  year  Professor 
Shurtliff  became  Professor  Emeritus,  as  Professor  Adams 
had  done  five  years  before,  thus  removing  from  active 
service  the  last  member  of  the  faculty  who  had  shared 
in  the  great  controversy.  The  appointment  of  a  pro- 
fessor of  modern  languages  was  earnestly  discussed  by 
the  board  and  it  was  voted  to  appoint  one,  but  the  funds 
were  lacking,  and  for  a  series  of  years  instruction  was 
given  by  individuals  paid  by  the  students,  though  the 
College  contributed  about  one  quarter  of  the  stipend. 
French  appears  as  an  elective  in  the  course  of  study  in 
1851,  but  it  was  not  until  1859  that  a  professor  of  mod- 
ern languages  was  appointed  when  William  A.  Packard, 
now  a  member  of  the  faculty  of  Princeton  University, 
was  chosen  to  that  place.  Two  professorships  were 
partially  endowed  in  1838,  the  Hall  professorship  of 
mineralogy  and  geology  and  the  Evans  professorship 
of  oratory  and  belles  lettres. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  decade  the  medical  faculty 
consisted  of  two  professors  besides  Professor  Hale  who 
gave  instruction  in  chemistry.  At  its  close,  besides  Pro- 
fessor Hubbard  in  place  of  Professor  Hale  and  one  lec- 
turer, there  were  four  professors,  among  whom  were 
Dixi  Crosby,  eminent  among  a  family  of  physicians, 
and  the  afterward  famous  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes. 

The  exterior  of  the  College  so  greatly  improved  by 
the  erection  of  the  new  buildings  and  the  fencing  of  the 
yard  was  still  further  advanced  by  the  levelling  and  the 

64 


enclosure  of  the  common  in  1835.  Indicative  of  the  John 
general  progress,  was  the  change  of  Commencement  in  King 
1834  from  the  last  Wednesday  of  August  to  the  last 
Wednesday  in  July,  for  which,  however,  Thursday  was 
substituted  the  next  year,  and  this  continued  to  be  the 
date  of  Commencement  till  1863  when  it  was  placed  one 
week  earlier.  This  was  changed  in  1877  to  the  last 
Thursday  of  June  for  which  again  Wednesday,  the  pres- 
ent date,  was  substituted  in  1894.  In  1832  for  the  first 
time  the  Senior  class  was  invited  to  attend  the  public 
dinner  at  Commencement  and  "eight  cents  were  added 
to  the  quarter  bills  of  every  student"  to  meet  the  ex- 
pense. In  1837  the  salaries  of  the  professors  were  raised 
from  $700  to  $900,  at  which  sum  they  continued  till 
1854  when  $200  more  were  added  to  them. 

An  increased  literary  spirit  was  evidenced  by  at- 
tempts of  the  students,  though  unsuccessful,  in  1835 
and  1837  to  establish  a  literary  magazine.  In  1839  an- 
other attempt  was  successful  and  The  Dartmouth  con- 
tinued till  1844-45  wnen  it  died,  but  it  re-appeared 
twenty  years  later  in  1867,  and  having  changed  from  a 
literary  magazine  to  a  college  paper  it  still  continues  a 
vigorous  existence.  Its  former  place  was  taken  by  the 
Dartmouth  Literary  Monthly  in  1887.  The  same  im- 
pulse led  to  the  establishment  in  1841  of  the  Greek 
letter  societies,  the  Psi  Upsilon  fraternity  having  the 
first  chapter  and  others  following.  That  they  did  not 
meet  with  the  entire  favor  of  the  authorities  is  shown 
by  a  vote  of  the  trustees  in  1846  that  "after  1849  no 
further  elections  be  made  for  members  of  any  other  so- 
cieties [than  Phi  Beta  Kappa,  Social  Friends,  United 
Fraternity  and  Theological]  except  by  permission  of 

0 

65 


John  the  faculty."  The  permission  however  seems  to  have 
King  been  freely  given  for  there  was  no  interruption  in  the 
life  of  the  societies. 

In  1837  Moor  Hall,  or  the  "Academy"  as  it  was 
called,  was  erected  for  the  use  of  Moor's  School,  but  it 
passed  in  the  fifties  to  the  use  of  the  Chandler  School, 
was  remodelled  in  1871  and  again  in  1898  into  the 
present  Chandler  Building.  In  the  next  year  (or  in 
1839)  a  new  building  was  begun  on  the  site  of  the  old 
President  Wheelock  house,  which  was  moved  to  its  present 
site  where  it  is  now  known  as  the  Howe  Library.  The 
new  building  was  finished  in  1840  and  named  Reed 
Hall  in  honor  of  William  Reed,  a  trustee,  who  left  a 
bequest  to  the  College,  but  its  cost,  about  $15,000,  was 
a  severe  tax  upon  the  resources  of  the  College  as  the 
legacy  of  Mr.  Reed  did  not  become  available  for  nearly 
twenty  years. 

One  of  the  marked  changes  introduced  by  President 
Ivord  was  the  abolition  of  honors.  The  marking  system 
was  but  just  introduced,  as  I  have  said,  and  before  its 
introduction  the  only  distinctions  of  scholarship  had 
been  the  appointments  to  the  exhibitions  on  the  "Quarter 
Days."  These  had  given  rise  to  endless  friction  and 
the  Sophomore  exhibition  had  been  abolished  in  1823. 
The  Junior  exhibition  disappeared  in  1832,  leaving  "the 
honors  of  the  College  to  be  gathered  only  once — at  the 
time  of  graduation."  But  the  same  trouble  appeared 
as  at  the  Quarter  Days,  and  in  1834  on  the  recommenda- 
tion of  the  president,  supported  by  a  petition  from  the 
larger  part  of  the  students,  college  honors  were  abolished 
and  Commencement  parts  were  assigned  to  the  whole 
class,  but  prize  speaking  was  continued  till  1838.  As 

•:• 

66 


the  class  of  1835  numbered  fifty  it  can  be  imagined  that  John 
Commencement  day  was  almost  beyond  endurance,  and  King 
though  the  trustees  voted  that  if  necessary  the  exercises 
might  be  extended  over  two  days,  yet  it  was  found 
better  to  restrict  the  number  of  speakers,  which  was 
done  at  first  by  excusing,  but  after  1839  by  lot.  This 
method  continued  through  President  Lord's  administra- 
tion, though  not  without  strong  opposition.  After  the 
first  the  faculty  desired  the  restoration  of  honors  and  in 
1840  all  its  members  but  one  joined  in  a  request  to  that 
end,  but  the  trustees  held  with  the  President,  as  they  did 
again  in  1858  when  the  alumni  in  Boston  presented  a 
memorial  asking  for  the  restoration  of  honors  and  the 
establishment  of  prizes.  Their  answer  set  forth  by 
President  Lord  based  their  refusal  on  the  grounds  that 
such  things  were  unchristian  and  immoral  as  making  an 
appeal  to  wrong  motives  and  hurtful  ambition. 

It  is  difficult  for  those  who  have  seen  only  the 
Commencements  of  late  years  to  appreciate  the  celebra- 
tions of  the  past.  In  former  years  Commencement  was 
not  merely  an  academic  celebration,  it  was  a  grand  festi- 
val of  the  nature  and  display  of  a  country  fair.  Instead 
of  the  comparatively  few  alumni  and  friends  of  the 
graduating  class  who  now  attend,  the  village  was  filled 
with  hundreds  and  even  thousands  of  people  who  came 
in  vehicles  of  every  description  from  all  the  country 
about.  A  man  living  near  once  told  me  that  he  had 
not  missed  a  Commencement  for  fifty  years.  The  south- 
ern end  of  the  common  was  covered  with  booths  of  cooks, 
candymakers,  peddlars,  nostrum  venders,  jugglers, 
gamblers  and  sellers  of  hard  cider  and  other  harder 
drinks.  Noise,  confusion  and  drunkenness  abounded. 

67 


John  In  the  church  were  the  exercises  of  a  literary  institution, 
King  on  the  common  the  turbulence  of  a  good-natured  but 
howling  mob.  In  1833  a  newspaper  correspondent 
wrote,  "I  was  sorry  to  see  such  a  host  of  peddlars, 
gamblers,  drunkards  and  shows.  I  was  never  more 
astonished  than  to  see  at  such  an  anniversary  and  at 
such  a  place  the  unaccountable  degree  of  immorality  and 
vice.  I  should  think  that  there  were  in  sight  of  one 
another  thirty  places  of  gambling.  During  the  per- 
formances in  the  meeting  house  the  vociferations  of  a 
dozen  auctioneers  were  to  be  distinctly  heard  in  the 
house."  Nor  was  the  attendance  only  of  sightseers. 
Men  of  note  and  men  of  letters  graced  the  occasion  be- 
sides those  who  came  to  give  addresses.  Among  the 
latter  were  the  most  famous  of  the  country  and  their 
audiences  honored  them  in  character  as  in  numbers.  In 
1843  a  visitor  wrote,  "The  crowd  was  immense.  Thurs- 
day there  were  1,200  who  could  not  get  into  the  church. 
I  had  the  honor  to  hear  and  shake  hands  with  the  im- 
mortal Daniel  Webster,  Levi  Woodbury  and  daughters, 
Mr.  Bronson  [the  orator  of  the  occasion] ,  Mr.  Peabody, 
Mr.  Aiken  of  Boston,  Gen.  Root  of  New  York  and  a 
whole  lot  of  worthies.  I  wish  you  could  see  Webster  : 
he  is  a  sight  worth  seeing.  Such  a  high,  expansive, 
intellectual  forehead  I  never  looked  upon  before  and 
'ne'er  shall  look  upon  his  like  again.'  Bronson  said  he 
never  addressed  so  intellectual  an  audience  before  in  his 
life.  The  concert  was  on  Wednesday  evening  by  the 
negro  band  from  Philadelphia.  The  music  was  soul- 
stirring." 

This  same  visitor  gave    an  account  of   the  Com- 
mencement of  1 845 .     "The  village  has  been  filled ,  filled 
68 


to  overflowing.  Herr  Dillsbacli  (manager  of  a  travel-  John 
ling  menagerie)  and  Ole  Bull  were  among  the  promi-  King 
nent  lions  of  the  day.  *  *  [The  speaking  and  confer-  Lord 
ring  of  degrees]  closed  the  exercises  of  Commencement, 
opening  at  a  little  before  ten  and  continuing  without 
intermission  until  4  p.  m.  *  *  The  menagerie  was  opened 
in  the  forenoon  and  afternoon  both.  *  *  *  There  was 
such  a  terrible  crowd  I  did  not  go,  although  I  should 
like  to  have  seen  some  of  Dillsbach's  wonderful  feats.  *  * 
Ole  Bull's  concert  came  on  about  5  o'clock.  Tickets 
$1.00  apiece.  At  nine  o'clock  in  the  evening  we  went 
up  to  the  assembly  rooms  in  the  new  College  [Reed 
Hall]  where  the  graduating  class  held  their  select  Levee. 
It  was  very  tastefully  decorated  and  the  tables  most  mag- 
nificently spread.  We  had  peaches,  apricots,  grapes, 
oranges,  raisins,  figs,  nuts  of  all  kinds,  pickled  fish, 
water  melons  a  foot  and  a  half  or  two  feet  long,  cakes, 
ice  cream,  tea,  coffee  and  lemonade.  The  students  gave 
this  instead  of  a  ball.  Kendall's  band  played  and  all 
went  off  well."* 

The  College  made  a  remarkable  gain  in  numbers 
between  1830  and  1840.     The  average  number  of  stu- 

*The  following  from  the  diary  of  a  resident  of  Hanover  relates  to 
the  same  Commencement : 

"J^y  3Igt-  The  annual  Commencement  this  day  and  a  fine  fair 
day  too.  The  smallest  literary  procession  that  I  have  noticed  for  sev- 
eral years — but  an  uncommon  rush  of  all  kinds  of  people  from  the  cir- 
cumstance that  there  was  uncommon  attractions  for  them.  A  some- 
what extensive  Menagiere  of  wild  animals  (in  most  miserable  plight 
however).  The  Boston  Brass  band  of  musicians,  and  the  famous  for- 
eign Violin  player  named  Ole  Bull,  and  4  Albinoes  or  white  negroes. 
Every  thing  to  pick  away  money  and  lead  the  mind  of  people  from 
the  great  concerns  of  eternity  and  their  duties  of  charity  to  their  needy 
fellow  citizens  and  the  perishing  heathen.  Even  clergymen  were  so 
enraptured  that  they  could  not  resist  the  invitation  to  hand  out  their 
half  dollar  to  hear  him  scrape  his  catgut — and  another  quarter  to  hear 
the  brass  band  perform." 

69 


John  dents  for  the  fifteen  years  to  1835  was  about  150.  In 
King  that  year  it  reached  200  and  in  1840  it  was  340,  and  in 
Lord  1842  there  were  graduated  85,  the  largest  class  in  the 
history  of  the  College  till  recent  years.  But  a  rapid 
decline  ensued  and  instead  of  a  class  of  a  hundred  as  in 
1838  there  entered  in  1842  a  class  of  but  43,  which 
graduated  30.  Comparatively  little  change  occurred 
till  about  1850  when  the  average  attendance  rose  to 
about  two  hundred  and  fifty  in  addition  to  the  Chandler 
and  medical  students,  a  permanent  gain  to  the  College  of 
about  sixty-six  per  cent.  It  is  difficult  to  state  definitely 
the  causes  that  led  to  these  changes.  The  first  in- 
crease aside  from  local  influences  seems  to  have  corres- 
ponded with  a  general  movement  toward  college  life 
throughout  New  England  and  the  decline  to  the  effect 
of  other  institutions  and  the  opening  up  of  railroads  that 
facilitated  communication. 

The  decrease  in  the  number  of  students  with  the 
consequent  loss  of  revenue  led  the  trustees  in  1842  to  at- 
tempt the  raising  by  subscription  of  a  fund  of  $50,000. 
The  subscription  which  was  not  to  be  binding  un- 
less $30,000  were  subscribed  by  August  i,  1843  fell 
$7,000  short  of  that  condition.  Among  the  subscribers 
was  Samuel  Appleton  of  Boston,  who  had  sent  a  check 
for  $1,000.  On  being  notified  that  it  would  be  returned 
he  declined  to  receive  it  and  urged  the  renewal  of  the 
subscription.  It  was  again  attempted  with  two  years' 
limitation,  but  as  the  limit  of  time  drew  near  the  fund 
still  lacked  $4,000  of  completion.  Again  Mr.  Appleton 
came  forward  and  with  a  check  for  $9,000  both  clinched 
the  subscription  and  raised  the  amount  of  the  fund  to 
$35,000.  This  fund  was  made  the  foundation  of  the 

70 


professorship  of  natural  philosophy  which  in  his  honor  John 
was  called  the  Appleton  professorship,  and  was  the  first  King 
fully  endowed  chair  in  the  College.     The  relief  given  Lord 
by  it  to  the  College  finances  was  very  great  and  enabled 
the  trustees  to  make  sorely  needed  repairs  in  the  build- 
ings. 

The  next  important  gift  to  the  College  was  the 
bequest  of  Abiel  Chandler  who  in  1851  left  $50,000  for 
"the  establishment  and  support  of  a  permanent  depart- 
ment or  school  of  instruction  in  said  College  in  the  prac- 
tical and  useful  arts  of  life."  This  was  a  new  departure 
in  scientific  education  and  partly  for  that  reason,  partly 
because  the  oversight  of  the  fund  was  entrusted  to  two 
visitors,  the  trustees  had  some  hesitation  in  accepting 
the  gift,  but  after  careful  consideration  of  the  legal  and 
educational  questions  involved  the  trust  was  accepted. 
In  the  fall  of  1852  the  new  work  was  opened  under  the 
title  of  the  "Chandler  Scientific  School."  The  course 
of  study  covered  three  years,  and  was  divided  into 
two  "Departments,"  the  Senior  of  two  years,  and  the 
Junior  "preparatory  to  the  Senior"  of  one  year.  The 
tuition  was  $30  and  $20  respectively,  the  College  tuition 
being  $36*,  and  the  terms  of  the  Senior  department 
corresponded  to  those  of  the  College,  while  the  Junior 
had  four  instead  of  three.  This  arrangement  con- 
tinued till  1857  when  the  course  was  unified  and  extend- 
ed to  four  years.  The  fund  not  being  sufficient  to  sup- 
port an  independent  faculty  the  instruction  was  given 
mainlyaby  members  of  the  College  faculty  at  a  stipulated 
rate.  This  arrangement  though  productive  of  some 

"Tuition  was  $27  in  1848;     £31. 50  in  1849  ;  $36  in  1851 ;   #421111855; 
{51  in  1860. 

7J 


John  friction  and  modified  later  by  the  appointment  of  some 
King  who  confined  their  instruction  to  the  Chandler  School 
and  formed  a  distinct  faculty,  continued  till  the  merg- 
ing of  the  school  and  the  College  in  1893.  The  general 
management  of  the  school,  under  the  president,  was 
given  to  one  man,  who  for  a  time  was  called  ''Rector." 
It  was  fortunate  in  its  chief  officers,  the, first  one  being 
Professor  James  W.  Patterson.  He  was  followed  by 
Prof essor  John  S.  Woodman  from  1857  to  1870  and  he 
in  turn  by  Professor  Edward  R.  Ruggles,  whose  long 
and  efficient  service  in  the  school  was  continued  in  the 
College  after  1893  as  the  head  of  the  department  of 
German.  The  school  began  with  twenty-eight  students 
and  for  many  years  made  a  slow  but  steady  growth.  In 
1865  in  accordance  with  the  expansive  views  of  Presi- 
dent Smith's  administration  it  was  called  the  "Chandler 
Scientific  Department."  Prudence  in  the  care  of  its 
funds  and  the  gifts  of  friends  increased  its  foundation 
nearly  fourfold. 

The  equipment  of  the  College  for  instruction  in 
science  was  still  further  increased  by  the  erection  of  the 
observatory  in  1854.  This  with  its  instruments  was 
largely  the  gift  of  Dr.  George  C.  Shattuck  of  the  class 
of  1803.  The  telescope  was  purchased  in  Munich  by 
Professor  Ira  Young,  who  went  abroad  for  that  purpose, 
but  was  replaced  by  a  larger  and  finer  instrument  in 
1871  when  the  observatory  was  re-furnished  under  the 
direction  of  his  son,  Professor  Charles  A.  Young. 

President   lyord  resigned  his   office  July   24,  1863 
after  a  service  of  thirty-five  years.     For  some  years  he 
had  been  the  foremost  exponent  of  the  pro-slavery  views 
then  prevalent  in  the  South.     Though  he  never  obtrud- 
72 


ed  these  on  the  students  among   whom   they  passed  as   John 
"peculiarities,"  and  though  under  him  Dartmouth  of-    K^g 
fered  an  unequalled  hospitality  to  the  negro,  yet  even   *-*>*& 
before  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  War  they  had  rendered 
him  obnoxious  to  many,  and  in  June   1863  led  an  asso- 
ciation of  ministers   to  question   the  desirability   of.his 
continuance  in   the  presidency.     The  trustees  in  reply 
to  their  communication  expressed  their  confidence  in  the 
President  but  dissented  strongly  from  his  views.     The 
President  immediately  resigned  on  the  ground  that  the 
action  of  the  trustees  imposed  a  "test"  of  opinion  and 
that  it  was  "inconsistent  with  Christian  charity  and  pro- 
priety to  carry  on  [his]  administration  while  holding 
and  expressing  opinions  injurious,  as  they  imagine,  to 
the  interests  of  the  College." 

The  long  presidency  of  Dr.  Lord  was  marked  by  the 
growth  of  which  I  have  spoken,  as  well  as  by  the  in- 
crease of  the  faculty  which  was  doubled  between  1828 
and  1863,  but  its  prevailing  effect  was  the  ideal  of  man- 
hood which  he  impressed  upon  the  College.  He  was 
a  man  of  strong  nature  and  effective  personality  so  that 
few  of  the  2,675  students  who  received  their  degrees  at 
his  hands  failed  to  be  permanently  impressed  by  him. 
To  his  direct  and  long-continued  influence  was  due  in 
no  small  degree  the  development  among  the  graduates 
of  Dartmouth  of  that  independence  and  force  of  charac- 
ter and  action,  that  self-reliance  and  loyalty  to  one  an- 
other that  we  call  the  "Dartmouth  Spirit." 

The  Rev.  Asa  D.  Smith,  D.  D.,  of  New  York  City, 
who  was  chosen  to  succeed  Dr.  L,ord,  was  inaugurated 
November  18,  1863.  His  administration  of  thirteen 
years  was  marked  by  many  changes  and  much  enlarge- 

73 


John  ment.  There  was  a  return  at  once  to  the  system  of 
King  prizes  and  Commencement  appointments  by  rank,  and 
L°r<J  the  Junior  exhibition  was  revived  for  a  few  years. 
There  was  a  substantial  addition  to  the  endowment  of 
the  College.  The  church  of  which  Dr.  Smith  had  been 
pastor  contributed$30,ooo  as  a  presidential  fund;  $40,000 
were  received  from  other  sources,  and  Dr.  Smith  by 
personal  solicitation  raised  $80,000  for  the  scholarship 
funds  of  the  College.  Many  other  valuable  gifts  were 
made  including  the  gift  in  1869  of  Judge  Richard  Fletch- 
er of  $90,000,  and  the  partial  foundation  of  the  Law- 
rence professorship  in  1872  of  $15,000.  In  1875  the 
College  received  the  largest  individual  gift  which  up  to 
that  time  had  been  made  to  an  American  college,  the 
bequest  of  Tappan  Wentworth  of  Lowell,  Mass.  Mr. 
Wentworth's  estate  fell  but  a  little  short  of  $500,000, 
but  as  its  use  was  conditioned  on  its  reaching  that  sum, 
and  as  it  suffered  a  terrible  shrinkage  in  value  in  the 
hard  times  immediately  following  Mr.  Wentworth's 
death,  it  did  not  actually  become  available  to  the  Col- 
lege till  1895. 

Of  the  many  changes  that  occurred  at  that  time 
some  of  them,  minor  yet  significant,  are  to  be  men- 
tioned :  the  introduction  of  steam  heat  into  Reed  Hall 
in  1874,  the  introduction  of  gas  into  the  chapel  and 
recitation  rooms  in  1872  and  into  the  buildings  general- 
ly in  1874,  the  establishment  of  a  reading  room,  sup- 
ported by  voluntary  contributions,  in  1866,  the  partial 
opening  of  the  College  library  in  1864  and  the  merging 
in  1874  of  the  libraries  of  the  two  literary  societies  with 
that  of  the  College  under  the  management  of  the  trus- 
tees, the  beginning  of  an  athletic  organization,  in  base- 

74 


ball,  in  1865,  the  bringing  back  of  Commencement  to  John 
the  last  Thursday  in  June  in  1872,  the  substitution  of  King 
written  for  oral  examinations  except  at  the  close  of  the 
year  in  1873,  and  the  adoption  in  1875  of  the  certificate 
system  of  admission  to  College. 

The  centennial  of  the  College  in  1869  was  cele- 
brated with  great  preparation  and  success.  There  was 
a  great  gathering  of  alumni  and  friends  of  the  College. 
In  addition  to  the  ordinary  programme  of  Commence- 
ment week  there  were  special  exercises  and  meetings  of 
the  alumni  presided  over  by  Salmon  P.  Chase,  Chief 
Justice  of  the  United  States  Supreme  Court.  The  liter- 
ary exercises  were  addresses,  historical  and  appropriate 
to  the  occasion,  and  special  addresses  by  prominent 
alumni  on  the  relation  of  the  College  to  the  various 
pursuits.  They  were  held  in  a  mammoth  tent  erected 
on  the  common,  which  was  commodious  but  unhappily 
not  water  proof,  and  a  heavy  thunder  shower  that  came 
•  up  during  the  post-prandial  exercises  of  Commencement 
day  caused  great  dismay,  and  ruined  the  eloquence  of 
the  speakers  and  the  toilets  of  the  audience.  As  the 
rain  poured  through  the  canvas  judges,  litterati,  doctors 
of  divinity  and  professors  sought  refuge  beneath  the 
stage,  but  the  water  poured  in  concentrated  force  through 
the  cracks  between  the  boards  and  their  last  state  was 
worse  than  their  first. 

It  was  largely  owing  to  the  exertions  of  President 
Smith  that  the  Agricultural  College,  established  on  the 
basis  of  the  congressional  land  grant,  was  brought  to 
Hanover  and  associated  with  Dartmouth  in  1868,  but 
the  history  of  that  institution  which  was  removed  to 
Durham  in  1892  does  not  concern  us  to-day,  further 

75 


John  than  that  its  coming  to  Hanover  was  believed  by  Presi- 
ding dent  Smith  to  be  of  great  importance  to  Dartmouth. 
Of  much  more  lasting  significance  was  the  opening  of 
the  Thayer  School  of  Civil  Engineering  in  1873.  It 
was  based  upon  a  gift  of  $70,000  by  General  Silvanus 
Thayer  of  the  class  of  1807,  and  though  not  formally 
was  practically  a  post-graduate  school. .  From  the 
beginning  it  has  been  under  the  direction  of  Professor 
Robert  Fletcher  and  though  its  numbers  have  been  few 
it  has  taken  rank  among  the  best  of  its  kind  and  adds 
a  lustre  to  the  College. 

The  general  faculty  increased  from  seventeen  mem- 
bers to  twenty-nine  including  the  members  of  the 
Agricultural  College  and  the  Thayer  School.  The 
number  of  students  rose  from  307  in  1863  to  409  in 
1876,  the  medical  students  gaining  seventeen,  the 
academic  forty-five  and  scientific  forty,  to  which  the 
Agricultural  College  added  twenty-four  and  the  Thayer 
School  six. 

Several  buildings  mark  the  progress  of  the  period. 
In  1866  Bissell  Hall  was  built,  the  finest  college  gym- 
nasium in  New  England  when  erected;  in  1870  Culver 
Hall  was  built  jointly  by  the  College  and  the  Agricul- 
tural College,  as  was  also  Conant  Hall,  now  Hallgarten, 
in  1874,  while  in  1871,  as  I  have  said,  Moor  Hall  was 
enlarged  and  became  the  Chandler  Building,  and  in 
1871  the  Medical  College  Building  was  remodelled  and 
improved. 

As  the   result   of   failing   health  President   Smith 
resigned  December  21,    1876,    his   resignation  taking 
effect  February  i ,  1877.     He  was  succeeded  by  the  Rev. 
Samuel  C.  Bartlett,  D.D.,  who  entering  on  his  duties  in 
76 


May  was  inaugurated  at  Commencement  (June   27)  of  Jonn 
that  year.  King 

But  I  have  reached  a  time  whose  events  are  probably  Lord 
known  to  you  all.  It  will  be  enough  partially  to  recall 
them.  Under  the  administration  of  President  Bartlett  the 
course  of  study  was  considerably  modified  by  the  intro- 
duction of  electives,  the  Chandler  Scientific  Department 
was  changed  to  the  Chandler  School  of  Science  and  the 
Arts  and  the  work  and  relation  of  that  school  to  the 
College  were  the  occasion  for  much  discussion  and  con- 
troversy. The  Latin  Scientific  course,  omitting  Greek 
as  a  requirement  and  leading  to  the  degree  of  B.  L,., 
was  established  in  1880.  The  endowments  of  five 
professorships  were  added  to  the  funds  and  one  that  had 
been  given  earlier  became  available.  The  outward 
sign  of  advance  remains  in  the  buildings  erected  during 
his  administration,  Wilson  Hall  and  Rollins  Chapel 
in  1885,  Wheelock  Hotel  in  1888,  the  Tower  built  by 
the  classes  from  1885  to  1895  inclusive,  Bartlett  Hall, 
the  building  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association 
erected  in  1891  and  named  from  President  Bartlett,  and 
the  Thayer  School  Building  purchased  in  1892. 

The  movement  for  the  representation  of  the  alumni 
on  the  board  of  trust  was  accomplished  in  1891.  This 
movement,  begun  as  far  back  as  the  early  sixties,  met 
the  obstacle  of  an  inflexible  character,  that  gave  complete 
support  to  the  conservative  feeling  that  feared  a  change. 
The  discussion  between  the  alumni  and  the  trustees,  each 
having  but  infrequent  meetings,  dragged  its  slow  length 
along  till  in  1876  the  trustees  proposed  to  allow  the 
alumni  to  nominate  four  names  for  each  of  the  next 
three  vacancies  on  the  board,  one  of  which  was  to  be 

77 


John  outside  of  New  Hampshire,  and  from  each  four  they 
King  would  elect  one.  This  proposition  was  accepted  and  in 
1878  three  men  were  chosen  to  represent  the  alumni 
(Messrs.  Prescott,  Hitchcock  and  Tucker) .  But  these 
trustees  like  the  others  held  a  life  tenure  and  it  was  felt 
that  the  alumni  still  lacked  the  closeness  of  touch  with 
the  life  of  the  College  which  they  desired.  In  1885  the 
question  was  again  agitated  and  the  final  report  of  the 
committee  then  appointed  to  consider  the  matter 
recommended  in  1888  the  appointment  by  the  alumni 
of  a  board  of  fifteen  councillors.  But  this  recom- 
mendation fell  flat,  and  a  new  committee  appointed  in 
1890  proposed  and  carried  through  in  1891,  with  the 
co-operation  of  the  trustees,  the  scheme  now  in  use,  by 
which  five  members  of  the  board  are  elected  by  the 
alumni,  one  retiring  and  one  being  chosen  each  year. 

President  Bartlett  gave  up  his  office  at  Commence- 
ment, 1892  though  he  continued  as  a  lecturer  till  his 
death  in  1898.  His  successor,  the  Rev.  William  J. 
Tucker,  D.D.,  was  inaugurated  at  the  Commencement 
of  1893  (June  28) .  The  course  of  his  administration  is 
before  our  eyes  and  in  our  hearts.  Its  watchwords  have 
been  unity  and  enlargement,  unity  within  and  without, 
enlargement  for  the  present  and  with  thought  for  the 
future.  At  the  very  outset  the  Chandler  School  ceased 
to  be  a  cause  of  friction  and  became  a  constituent  part 
of  the  College,  one  of  three  courses  on  a  common 
footing.  The  whole  scheme  of  study  has  been  re- 
modelled to  make  the  closest  connection  with  the 
schools  below  and  to  harmonize  and  economize  time 
with  the  graduate  schools.  The  courses  of  Senior  year 
in  particular  have  been  so  defined  and  related  that 
78 


one  year  of  time  is  saved  in  professional  study.  To  John 
the  other  forces  of  the  College  has  been  added  the  Tuck  King 
School  of  Administration  and  Finance,  resting  on  the 
princely  gift  of  $400,000  by  Mr.  Edward  Tuck  of  the 
class  of  1862.  For  the  material  evidences  of  the  pros- 
perity of  the  College  you  have  but  to  look  about  you. 
Butterfield,  Wilder,  Richardson,  Fayer weather  and 
College  Halls  and  the  Heating  Station  have  risen 
since  1893.  The  Administration  Building  is  begun, 
Sanborn  and  Crosby  Houses,  the  Chandler  Building  and 
the  Medical  College  have  been  remodelled  and  enlarged, 
all  the  dormitories  have  been  modernized  by  the  in- 
troduction of  heat,  light  and  water,  other  property  has 
been  acquired  with  a  view  to  future  needs,  the  Alumni 
Oval  has  given  a  proper  place  for  athletics,  and  a  new 
and  sufficient  water  supply  for  College  and  village 
has  met  the  modern  requirements  that  are  dependent 
upon  it  for  health  and  protection  from  fire.  The 
general  aspect  of  the  College  grounds  and  the  village 
corresponds  with  this  enlargement.  The  teaching  force 
of  the  College  has  risen  in  this  time  to  nearly  twice  its 
former  number,  and  there  has  been  a  corresponding 
increase  of  students.  What  the  standing  of  the  College 
is  among  the  alumni  and  its  constituent  public,  you  well 
know,  but  however  firm  it  may  be  it  cannot  exceed  the 
loyalty  and  peace  within  the  College. 

If  Daniel  Webster,  in  whose  honor  we  have  met, 
were  to  stand  among  us  to-day  he  could  no  longer  say 
of  Dartmouth  as  he  did  in  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States,  "  It  is  a  small  college,"  but  he  could  still 
say  ,  u  There  are  those  who  love  it."  Yes,  there  are 
more  to  love  it,  and  more  who  love  it.  They  cannot 

79 


John  l°ve  more  in  degree  than  men  in  his  day,  for  then  men 
King  gave  their  substance  and  even  their  lives  to  it,  but  they 
Lord  love  it  as  much,  and  all  over  the  land  and  in  foreign 
lands,  wherever  the  sons  of  Dartmouth  have  gone,  their 
love  burns  true  and  strong,  and  in  their  hearts  they 
"give  a  rouse  for  the  College  on  the  hill,"  and  hope  and 
labor  for  its  prosperity.  They  believe  in  it  now,  they 
trust  it  for  the  future  and  looking  at  its  history  with  its 
early  romance  and  later  struggles,  seeing  its  progress 
through  its  century  and  a  third  of  life  with  its  present 
larger  outlook,  and  regarding  the  long  line  of  great  and 
good  men  whom,  like  a  "pure  fountain,"  it  has  sent 
and  still  continues  to  send  forth,  they  may  justly  say  of 
the  College  as  the  great  biographer  of  antiquity  said  of 
his  hero,  manet  mansurumque  est  in  animis  hominum, 
in  aeternitate  temporum,  fama  rerum. 


80 


15he    Exercises      of 
Tuesday      Evening' 


Program. 

Formation  of  Torchlight  Procession* 

Parade* 

Dartmouth  Night  Speeches, 

Melvin  Ohio  Adams.  Esquire,  *7J. 

Charles  William  Bartlett,  Esquire,  '68. 

Professor  Charles  Frederick  Bradley,  '73. 
Singing  by  the  Glee  Club. 
Fireworks. 
Bonfire* 

Athletic  Events. 
Singing  by  the  Entire  Assemblage. 


UBSDAY  evening  was  given  to  the  spectacular 
demonstration  of  the  Centennial,  and  to  the  ob- 
servance of  Dartmouth  Night.  The  town  was 
aglow  in  honor  of  the  occasion ;  business  blocks  and 
residences  were  decorated  with  bunting,  flags,  and  lan- 
terns ;  the  campus  was  in  a  blaze  from  the  thousands  of 
electric  lamps  which  surrounded  it ;  College  Hall,  repre- 
senting the  new  Dartmouth  was  brilliantly  lighted ; 
across  the  green  stood  Dartmouth,  typical  of  the  old 
College,  each  line  of  the  venerable  building,  with  its 
graceful  belfry,  distinct  in  the  mellow  light  against  the 
background  of  darkness.  The  illumination  of  this 
building  was  perfect :  one  well  said  of  it,  ' '  Dartmouth 
has  come  to  her  own."  Squarely  across  the  front 
lighted  letters  spelled,  "  Daniel  Webster  1801." 

83 


Dartmouth  The  torchlight  procession  formed  under  direction 

Night  of  Chief  Marshal,  Colonel  Charles  K.  Darling,  '85; 
Chief  of  Staff,  Lieutenant  Colonel  Otis  H.  Marion,  '73; 
and  the  Staff,  Lieutenant  Colonel  Horace  E.  Marion, 
'66,  Austin  H.  Kenerson,  '76,  Edward  N.  Pearson,  '81, 
Benjamin  Tenney,  '83,  BertrandT.  Wheeler,  '84,  John 
H.  Colby,  '85,  Daniel  B.  Ruggles,  '90,  and  Frank 
E.  Barnard,  '91.  Philip  M.  Emmott,  Sixth  Infantry, 
M.  V.  M.,  acted  as  Chief  Bugler. 

The  faculty  wore  black,  academic  gowns  and  mortar 
board  caps ;  the  students  a  similar  dress,  except  that 
each  class  was  distinguished  by  a  particular  color, 
white  for  the  Seniors,  blue  for  the  Juniors,  scarlet  for 
the  Sophomores,  and  yellow  for  the  Freshmen.  The 
Glee  Club  was  dressed  in  Colonial  garb.  The  alumni 
appeared  in  a  Webster  costume  of  blue  coat,  buff  waist- 
coat, stock,  dicky,  and  tall  hat.  A  band  of  students  in 
Indian  dress  disported  themselves  about  the  procession. 
Floats,  among  them  Webster's  carriage,  the  great  plow 
made  and  used  by  him  at  Marshfield,  a  reproduction  of  his 
room  within  which  showed  his  old  hat,  chair,  and  table, 
and  a  representation  of  the  first  Dartmouth  College 
building,  were  interspersed.  Many  transparencies  were 
carried. 

The  procession,  led  by  the  College  Band,  upon 
reaching  the  campus  marched  and  countermarched, 
presenting  a  beautiful  and  striking  appearance.  The 
line  of  march  was  then  taken  up  Main,  across  Maynard, 
and  down  College  Streets.  After  completing  the  parade 
the  procession  came  to  a  halt,  and  was  massed  before 
the  reviewing  stand  where  the  trustees  of  the  College 
were  seated,  together  with  the  Governor  and  his  Staff, 

84 


the  invited  guests,  and  the  faculty,  to  listen  to  brief  Dartmouth 
speeches  from  some  of   the  alumni,  and   to  view  the  Night 
stereopticon  pictures  thrown  upon  a  screen  in  front  of 
Dartmouth  Hall.     The  views  were  with  two  exceptions 
from  original  paintings  and  daguerreotypes.   There  were 
shown  eighteen  portraits  of  Mr.  Webster,  eight  views  of 
places  and  scenes  important  in   his   life,  and  the   last 
manuscript    page   of    his  reply  to   Hayne.     The   Glee 
Club  sang  several  selections. 

Immediately  after  this  the  bonfire  was  lighted,  the 
display  of  fireworks  took  place,  and  a  number  of  athletic 
events  were  run  off  upon  the  campus.  Finally  all 
joined  in  singing  Dartmouth  songs. 

Dartmouth  Night  Speeches. 

In  introducing  the  speakers  President  Tucker  said  : 
4 'Gentlemen,  this  is  'Dartmouth  Night.'  We  have 
simply  moved  out  of  doors.  We  cannot  afford  to  miss 
altogether  the  good  talking  we  have  had  from  year  to 
year  in  the  Old  Chapel.  I  take  pleasure  in  introducing  to 
you  two  or  three  of  our  brethren  who  will  abundantly 
maintain  the  speaking  habit  under  these  changed  con- 
ditions. First  of  all  I  will  present  Colonel  Melvin  O. 
Adams  of  Boston. ' ' 

Speech  of  Metbin  Ohio  Adams,  Esquire,  '7/. 

Mr.  President.  Gentlemen  of  the  Board  of  Trustees, 
Your  Excellency,  Antique  and  Admirable  Men  [Laugh- 
ter], you  who  have  come  down  to  us  from  a  former 
generation — at  all  events  as  far  as  your  clothes  are 
concerned  [  Laughter] ,  and  you  thrice  fortunate  under- 
graduates of  Dartmouth  College  of  the  year  1901,  ap- 

85 


Dartmouth  patently  just  hatched  in  all  your  radiance  from  this 
Night  splendid  lunar  spectroscope — I  salute  you  [Laughter]. 
Escaped  from  the  wigwam  after  the  "big  talk  "  of  the 
afternoon,  you  are  now  to  congratulate  yourselves  that 
you  are  on  the  other  side  of  Jordan,  in  the  green  fields 
of  Eden  [Applause  and  laughter].  You  seem  to  me 
an  allegory  of  college  life.  For  I  beheld  a  modest  per- 
centage easily  pursuing  their  course,  mounted  on  horses 
[Laughter],  and  by  far  a  larger  number  slowly  plodding 
along  the  average  level  of  a  fine  college  life,  while  a 
few,  seated  in  carriages,  rolled  comfortably  to  honorary 
degrees,  like  my  friend  Gallagher  who  rode  with  me 
[Applause  and  laughter].  The  College  has  thus  put 
these  men  on  her  list  and  they  do  her  perennial 
honor  that  more  than  squares  the  account  [Applause.] 
But  there  is  little  time  for  talk.  NOD  lusisti  satis 
[Laughter  and  applause].  I  call  upon  those  brave 
mounted  horsemen,  the  Colonel  Darlings  [Laughter 
and  applause],  the  John  Colby s,  the  Bert  Wheelers,  the 
Harry  Deweys,  who  either  rode  or  walked,  we  were 
uncertain  which,  to  give  me  a  free  translation  [Laugh- 
ter]. Even  the  president  of  the  College  fails  to  say 
that  "  he  is  prepared."  Non  lusisti  satis — "  You  have 
not  played  enough";  and  so  I  was  admonished  before  I 
began  to  speak  that  I  was  given  but  five  minutes.  I 
am  curious  to  know  how  that  time  is  to  be  reckoned 
for  if  we  are  to  be  governed  by  the  College  bell;  there 
was  once  a  time  when  the  minutes  ran  into  hours 
[Laughter  and  applause] — and  there  was  no  tintinnabu- 
lation in  the  bell  [Laughter].  This  was  when  my 
friend,  Charlie  Bartlett,  who  follows  me,  was  in  College 
[At  this  moment  the  great  college  bell  rang  out,  amid 

86 


the  laughter  of  the  assembled  multitude].      You  see  he  Daftmotith 
has  not  been  here  long  enough  yet  to  stop  it.     I  do  not 
say  it  was  a  "post"  or  a  "propter," — I  only  speak  of 
the  silence  of  the  bell. 

But  everybody  knows,  and  if  everybody  does  not 
know,  they  will  know,  that  I  am  a  small  contingent 
from  the  Boston  alumni.  Twenty  years  ago,  twenty 
men  in  Boston  determined  that  the  love  of  Dartmouth 
College  should  manifest  itself  by  a  positive  exhibition  of 
Dartmouth  spirit  [Applause].  The  Dartmouth  spirit 
meant  that  a  Dartmouth  man  was  as  good  as  any  other 
college  man,  and  very  often  a  little  better.  It  meant 
that  Dartmouth  men  were  to  stand  together  not  for 
their  own  personal  advantage,  but  to  be  a  bulwark  to 
the  College ;  and  in  the  twenty  years  the  twenty  men 
have  squared  to  four  hundred  men,  and  will  soon  cube 
them  [Applause]. 

I  have  in  my  pocket  an  original  letter,  which  I  am 
to  present  to  the  librarian  of  the  College  to-morrow, 
written  by  Mr.  Webster  immediately  after  the  decision 
of  the  famous  Dartmouth  College  Case,  dated  in  1819  ; 
this  letter  was  written  to  his  associate,  Mr.  Joseph 
Hopkinson  at  Philadelphia,  and  in  it  he  made  this 
remarkable  prophecy.  He  said  to  Mr.  Hopkinson, — 
"  Our  College  cause  will  be  known  to  our  children's 
children.  Let  us  take  care  that  the  rogues  are  not 
ashamed  of  their  grandfathers."  We,  my  fellow 
alumni,  are  the  children's  children.  You  are  the 
rogues  [Laughter]  and  we  are  not  ashamed  of  our 
grandfathers.  When  Mr.  Webster  graduated  there 
were  ten  men  from  Massachusetts  in  his  class.  To- 
day Massachusetts  sends  to  this  College  three  times  as 

87 


Dartmouth    many  men  as  there  were  in  the  whole  College  a  hundred 

Night    years  ago  [Applause] ;  but   in  the  words  of  our  Boston 

transparency, — "  I  shall  enter    on  no  encomium  upon 

Massachusetts.    There  she  is — behold  her,  and  judge  for 

yourselves." 

Far  out  at  sea,  beyond  the  gates  of  Boston  Harbor, 
by  an  act  of  Congress,  the  Lighthouse  Board  has  lately 
anchored  a  new  light-ship.  There  the  hardy  pilots, 
coasting  to  meet  the  trans- Atlantic  liner  or  the  tall 
ships  from  Southern  Seas,  are  ordered  to  keep  it  in 
sight  by  day  and  its  twin  lights  by  night. 

So  it  comes  to  me,  looking  back  over  the  gap  of  a 
hundred  years  upon  the  memory,  the  character,  and  the 
public  services  of  Daniel  Webster  that  somehow  he  has 
been  placed  for  us  in  the  troublous  sea  of  worldly 
struggle  where  each  waits  and  waits  for  his  token  of 
success,  as  our  college  lightship,  showing  ever  and 
always  these  two  unobscured  lights,  these  two  principles 
of  our  college  brotherhood, — the  one,  that  the  alumni 
is  not  a  league  of  classes,  but  a  great  body  in  which  we 
all  are  co-ordinate,  equal  members, — and  the  other,  an 
abiding,  persistent,  sacrificial  love  for  dear  old  Dart- 
mouth College  [Great  applause]. 

President  Tucker  then  said  :  "That  is  so  good  we 
must  have  some  more  of  the  same  kind,  and  I  now  call 
upon  Charlie  Bartlett,  who  will  continue  the  story." 

Speech  of  Charles  William  Bartlett,  Esquire,  '69. 

I  do  not,  Mr.  President  and  Trustees,  intend  to 
remove  any  more  of  my  rig,  I  must  retain  my  Daniel 
Webster  tile  [Laughter  and  applause] .  In  front,  em- 
blazoned on  the  hat,  are  the  figures  1869.  I  was  of  that 

88 


vintage  [Laughter],  For  four  long  and  somewhat  active  Dartmouth 
years  I  enjoyed  the  life  at  Dartmouth — some  interims-  Night 
sions — and  among  the  pleasant  recollections  that  I  have 
is  that  of  the  long  years'  attendance  at  the  church 
on  the  corner,  and  careful  remembrance  of  the  texts 
[Laughter]  from  which  the  sermons  were  preached. 
To-day  I  went  again.  I  heard  Professor  John  K.  Lord, 
Johnnie  Lord,  as  we  used  to  call  him,  for  he  was  in  the 
class  of  '68,  and,  will  you  believe  it,  he  hazed  me  [Ap- 
plause and  laughter  and  cheers  for  Johnnie].  Once — 
never  after  [Laughter  and  applause].  I  listened  with 
delight  to  the  able  and  eloquent  address  that  he  de- 
livered there  this  afternoon.  I  listened  to  the  various 
changes  that  he  depicted;  that  such  and  such  years 
changes  were  made  here  at  Dartmouth.  When  he  fin- 
ished he  ended  with  a  quotation  from  some  strange 
language  [Laughter],  Latin  I  have  since  been  told.  I 
have  been  endeavoring  to  find  out  ever  since  when  it 
was  that  they  changed  the  pronunciation;  I  was  unable 
to  follow  that  part  of  his  address  [Laughter].  I  should 
dislike  now — undergraduates  I  am  talking  to — to  sit 
down  and  read  my  diploma  in  the  original  and  read  it 
in  that  way.  I  am  afraid  I  should  hardly  recognize  it. 
I  followed  the  address  with  a  great  deal  of  pleasure  when 
he  referred  to  the  year  1869,  the  one  hundredth  class, 
gentlemen,  the  centennial  class.  I  had  the  honor  at 
that  time  to  be  Marshal  and  I  know  that  Professor  Lord's 
address  must  be  absolutely  correct  for  I  remember  that 
rain.  I  remember  what  a  sight  it  was  to  me  standing 
in  the  rear  of  about  fifteen  hundred  alumni  of  Dart- 
mouth College  sitting  there,  and,  most  astonishing  fact 
of  all,  they  followed  the  old  rule,  bald-headed  fellows  in 

89 


Dartmouth  the  front  row  [Laughter].  I  have  looked  back  a  great 
Night  many  times  to  that  celebration  because  to  me,  as  a 
youngster,  it  was  a  great  honor  to  lead  that  procession 
and  to  be  followed  directly,  as  we  formed  it  at  that  time, 
by  Chief  Justice  Chase,  a  graduate  of  this  College,  and 
General  William  T.  Sherman.  Now,  coming  down  a 
little  further,  my  brother  Adams,  whom  I  always 
assisted — he  was  in  the  class  of  '71 — I  always  coun- 
selled with  good  advice  his  class  when  it  was  in  trouble 
— has  referred  to  an  incident  in  which  he  said  that  "the 
College  clock  was  silent — there  was  no  ringing,  and 
there  was  no  such  thing  as  the  tolling  of  the  bell."  He 
is  mistaken.  That  bell  was  tolled  by  a  stalwart  man 
with  a  hammer,  but  he  never  left  the  hammer  in  the 
belfry  [Laughter]. 

Now,  referring  again  to  texts.  There  is  a  little 
text  that  has  occurred  to  me,  coming  from  a  song  dear 
to  every  Dartmouth  man;  it  comes  directly  from  that 
song: 

"The  world  will  never  have  to  call 

On  Dartmouth  men  in  vain," 

and  on  that  text  I  could,  if  permitted,  deliver 
an  oration.  But  Professor  Smith  sent  me  formal 
notice  that  under  no  circumstances  should  I  be  per- 
mitted over  five  minutes,  and  with  that  time  limitation 
I  must  be  content.  I  might  say  that  when  Dartmouth 
called  on  Daniel  Webster  in  the  years  gone  by,  she  did 
not  call  in  vain.  The  world  did  not  call  in  vain  upon 
other  occasions,  as  the  orators  of  this  celebration  will 
elaborately  tell  you  to-morrow.  The  same  spirit 
led  Daniel  Webster  under  circumstances  where  his 
ability  could  be  shown  and  his  love  to  the  old  College 

90 


could  be  shown,  to  respond  as  only  a  Dartmouth  man  Dartmouth 
could  respond.     I  have  the  abiding  faith  and  belief  that  Night 
that  spirit  still  lives  and  that,  whenever  the  opportunity 
comes,  whenever   Dartmouth  College   calls,  she   never 
will  call  in  vain  on  the  boys  that  I  see  before  me  and 
the  boys  that  I  knew  when  I  occupied  the  same  position 
that  you  do  [Applause].       I  grieve  to  say  that   my  five 
minutes  is  up  [Applause]. 

President  Tucker:  "Gentlemen,  it  is  hard  for 
Boston  to  believe  that  it  is  not  to-day  what  it  has  been 
as  the  Dartmouth  Center.  The  center  of  gravity  is 
moving  westward,  and  is  now  pretty  near  Chicago.  I 
have  the  honor  of  introducing  to  you  the  representative 
of  the  Chicago  alumni,  Professor  Bradley." 

Speech  of  ^Professor  Charles  Frederick  Bradley,  '73. 

Walt  Whitman  said,  "  I  love  to  study  the  Old  Mas- 
ters. Oh  !  that  the  Old  Masters  might  come  and  study 
me  !  "  I  should  like  to  adopt  his  formula  and  say,  "We 
men  of  Dartmouth  love  to  study  Daniel  Webster.  Oh  I 
that  Daniel  Webster  might  come  to-night  and  study  us." 
I  believe  he  would  find  much  to  interest  him.  I  am 
sure  he  never  saw  such  a  procession  as  has  passed  before 
this  reviewing  stand  to-night,  and  I  am  sure  that  a  pro- 
cession at  Dartmouth  is  peculiarly  suggestive  to  every 
alumnus  returning  to  the  College.  It  reminds  me  in 
the  first  place  of  a  very  different  procession  in  honor  of 
a  very  different  Daniel.  I  think  there  must  be  a  good 
many  here  who  remember  Daniel  Pratt,  the  "  Great 
American  Traveler, ' '  and  some  of  you  doubtless  helped 
to  arrange  a  procession  which  escorted  him  from  the  old 
Dartmouth  Hotel  to  Dartmouth  Chapel,  where  they  con- 

91 


Dartmouth  ferred  upon  him  with  all  solemnity  the  honorary  degree 
Night  of  C.  O.  D.  [Great  laughter].  He  then  delivered  a 
very  remarkable  oration  upon  the  subject  of  the  Vocab- 
ulaboratory  of  the  world's  history  [Great  laughter]. 
After  the  address  was  over  as  he  came  out  on  the  Chapel 
steps,  some  disturbance  was  caused,  and  brave  man  and 
chevalier  though  he  was,  he  became  frightened  and 
started  across  the  campus  like  a  deer  with  the  whole  col- 
lege in  full  cry  after  him.  The  speakers  to-night  trust 
they  will  not  be  treated  in  the  same  way  [Laughter]. 
I  think,  speaking  of  ' '  vocabulaboratories'1 '  that  there 
is  an  incident  related  of  Daniel  Webster  which  was  not 
referred  to  by  Professor  Richardson  this  afternoon,  and 
is  not  likely  to  be  given  by  Mr.  McCall  to-morrow.  It 
is  said  that  a  great  admirer  of  Mr.  Webster  consulted  a 
spiritualistic  medium  and  the  spirit  of  Webster  was 
called  up.  This  admirer  was  very  anxious  to  know 
what  Mr.  Webster's  feelings  were  regarding  the  speech 
of  the  seventh  of  March,  and  asked,  "Will  Mr.  Webster 
tell  what  in  his  life  he  most  deeply  regrets  ?  ' '  and  the 
answer  given  through  the  medium  was,  "  My  greatest 
regret  is  that  I  did  not  live  to  revise  my  Dictionary 
•again"  [Applause  and  laughter].  Whatever  other 
trouble  there  was  connected  with  Daniel  Webster  there 
surely  was  no  trouble  with  his  vocabulary. 

There  are  other  processions  of  which  I  am  reminded 
to-night,  especially  by  these  white-robed  Seniors. 
These  were  night  processions,  too,  and  I  shall  never  for- 
get my  sensations  as  a  Freshman,  when  following  in  one 
of  these  to  the  sound  of  college  horns,  we  passed  through 
a  resounding  corridor  of  Dartmouth  Hall  whose  historic 
and  felicitous  name  I  shall  not  mention  here,  where, 
92 


amid  the  din  of  the  horns  and  the  resounding  of  the   Dartmouth 
hoofs,  it  seemed,  indeed,  as  if  pandemonium  had  been   Night 
let  loose.     Then  there  were  also  the  processions  of  Class 
Day,  when  the  departing  Senior  is  wondering  how  the 
college  world  can  exist  without  him,  a   question  to  be 
followed,  alas  !  often  within  a  very  few  days,   with  an- 
other as  to  what  the  outside  world  can  possibly  do  -with 
him  [Laughter]. 

And  then  there  is  that  procession  which  certainly 
has  stirred  the  heart  of  every  Dartmouth  man,  the  first 
Commencement  procession  in  which  he  ever  took  part. 
How  proudly  as  Freshman  he  followed  the  band,  con- 
scious that  at  last  he  was  in  his  proper  place  at  the  head 
of  the  procession.  But  what  disappointment  he  suffered 
when  at  the  Church  doors  he  saw  the  procession  halt  and 
divide,  and  then  like  the  anaconda  boa  constrictor  "swal- 
low itself  and  crawl  through  itself  ' '  leaving  him  at  the 
end. 

But  the  procession  at  Dartmouth,  so  wonderfully 
presented  to  us  to-night,  is  also  suggestive,  I  think,  to 
every  one  of  us  of  the  whole  procession  of  Dartmouth 
men  who  are  marching  on, — the  living  and  the  dead, — a 
procession  of  men,  and  a  procession  of  manly  men.  A  pro- 
cession of  brothers  in  a  large  sense.  I  do  not  say  there  are 
not  other  colleges,  and  many  other  colleges,  where  there 
is  a  brotherly  spirit,  but  I  do  say  there  are  some  institu- 
tions which  could  not  be  called  so  much  Alma  Maters; 
so  mechanical  are  they,  so  enormous  their  numbers,  so 
lacking  in  the  friendly  and  brotherly  and  motherly  spirit 
that  they  are  rather  Alma  Incubators  [Laughter  and 
applause].  We  are  brothers, — a  thought  dear  to  all 
Dartmouth  men, — whether  they  are  of  our  class  or  not, 

93 


Dartmouth  whether  they  are  of  our  time  or  not.  I  say  it  advisedly, 
Night  that  when  I  returned  after  twenty-five  years  to  our 
class  reunion  it  was  one  of  the  revelations  of  my  life  that 
I  knew  so  intimately  every  member  of  the  class  who  re- 
turned, and  that  we  seemed  to  bear  a  relation  to  each 
other  that  was  unlike  any  other  in  our  experience. 
Dartmouth  men,  in  a  very  noble  and  very  beautiful 
sense,  are  all  brothers,  the  world  over.  And  hence  it 
is  that  we  so  delight  to  honor  those  who  are  the  great 
among  us.  Their  glory  is  reflected  upon  us,  their 
glory  and  their  greatness  inspires  us. 

And  so  we  are  called  upon,  as  Dartmouth  men  cele- 
brating this  hundredth  anniversary  of  the  graduation  of 
Dartmouth's  most  illustrious  son,  to  be  worthy  brothers 
of  Daniel  Webster,  to  remember  how  he  represented 
patriotism  and  statesmanship.  None  can  rival  him, 
none  can  equal  his  matchless  oratory,  none  can  com- 
mand the  amazing  forces  of  his  colossal  intellect,  but 
we  can  all  be  patriots.  We  can  all  re-consecrate  our- 
selves to  the  country  he  loved,  and  so  gloriously  gave 
his  life  to,  most  fittingly  at  this  time,  in  the  shadow  of 
the  great  national  affliction  which  has  befallen  us,  and 
just  as  a  young  man  enters  upon  the  Presidency  of  our 
nation  who  represents  in  an  extraordinary  degree,  as  no 
President  ever  did  before,  the  idea  of  the  university  man 
devoting  himself  unselfishly  to  practical  politics.  As 
Dartmouth  men  we  may  not  only  put  on  the  outward 
clothes  that  were  so  dignified  in  Daniel  Webster  [and 
so  dignify  these  gentlemen  of  the  alumni],  but  we  may 
clothe  ourselves  in  the  civic  virtues  for  which  he  was 
distinguished.  In  that  great  procession  I  call  upon  you, 

9* 


gentlemen,  to  give  three  cheers  for  three  great  brothers  Dartmouth 
of  Dartmouth — Eleazar  Wheelock,  the  great,  wise,   he-  Night 
roic  founder ;  Daniel  Webster,  the  illustrious  statesman 
and    matchless    orator  and    re-founder ;    and    William 
Jewett  Tucker,  the  ideal  president  and  great  extender 
[Great  applause  followed  by  three  cheers]. 


96 


Exercises     of 
Wednesday  Morning 


Program. 

A  procession  made  op  of  trustees    with    invited   guests, 

faculty,  alumni  and  students  formed  in  the  College  Yard  at 

9.30  o'clock,  and  marched  to  the  College  Church. 

Processional — "  Coronation  March  from  The  Prophet." 

cMeyerbeer 
Salem  Cadet  Band. 

Chorus — "  Sanctus  in  E  flat."  Osgood 

Prayer  by  the  Reverend  Arthur  Little,  DJX,  '60,  of  Dorches- 
ter, Massachusetts* 

Chorus— "Prayer  of  Thanksgiving."    Old  Netherlands  (1626) 

Address  by  the  President  of  the  College. 

Oration  by  the  Honorable  Samuel  Walker  McCall,  '74,  of 
Massachusetts* 

Chorus— "Ein  Feste  Burg."  Old  German 

Conferring  of  Honorary  Degrees. 

The  singing  by  the  chorus  and  congregation  of  Milton'i 
paraphrase  of  Psalm  CXXXVL 

Benediction  by  the  Reverend  Arthur  Little,  D*D. 


Introductory  Address 

By  the  President  of  the  College. 

HHE  observance  of  the  Centennial  of  Mr.  Webster's 
graduation  from  College  is  an  academic  event 
of  its  own  kind.     I  am  not  aware  of  an  instance 
in  which,  a  college  has  taken  note  in  a  formal  way  of 
the  graduation  of  any  of  its  alumni.     The  motive  which 
has  led  us  to  observe  this  event  is  so  natural  and  evi- 
dent, that   our  action  invites,  I  think,  neither  criticism 

99 


The   nor  imitation.     We  have  not  sought  to  introduce  a  cus- 
Prcsident  torn.     No  college  or  university  may  see  fit  to  celebrate 
of  the   a  like  event  in  its  history.       We  may  have  no  occasion 
College   to  repeat  these  observances  under  other  conditions. 

The  relation  of  Mr.  Webster  to  his  College,  his 
living  and  his  posthumous  relation,  is  unique.  It  is 
doubtful  if  the  name  of  any  educational  institution  in 
the  land  is  so  inseparably  blended  with  the  name  of  a 
graduate,  or  even  of  a  founder,  as  is  the  name  of  Dart- 
mouth with  that  of  Daniel  Webster.  The  story  of  the 
founding  of  this  College  by  Eleazar  Wheelock  is  a  ro- 
mance, the  great  educational  romance  of  the  eighteenth 
century.  The  story  of  its  "re-founding"  by  Daniel 
Webster  is  written  in  law,  the  law  of  the  land  since 
1820.  Had  Mr.  Webster  died  immediately  after  the 
Dartmouth  College  decision  he  would  have  left  the  Col- 
lege imbedded  in  the  national  life.  The  after  years  of 
his  personal  fame  were  of  almost  equal  service  to  the 
College.  His  reputation,  his  influence,  his  memory  be- 
came a  part  of  our  institutional  assets.  We  cannot  tell 
to-day  whether  we  owe  more  to  Mr.  Webster  for  what 
he  did  or  for  what  he  was. 

And  yet  in  this  relation  of  Mr.  Webster  to  the  Col- 
lege, unique  as  it  is,  there  is  nothing  unnatural  or  ex- 
,,  aggerated.  He  belongs  to  us  because  he  was  one  of  us. 
There  was  nothing  to  set  him  apart  or  separate  him, 
except  size.  He  was  "to  the  manor  born."  A  New 
Hampshire  boy,  he  never  thought  of  entering  any  other 
college  than  Dartmouth.  And  once  here  he  found  all 
that  he  needed  at  that  stage  of  his  development.  The 
Dartmouth  of  Mr.  Webster's  time  was  quite  abreast  of 
the  still  older  colleges  with  which  it  is  associated. 

JOO 


During  the  decade  which  included  the  greater  part  of  The 
his  collegiate  course,  Dartmouth  graduated  three  hun-  President 
dred  and  sixty-three  men,  Harvard  three  hundred  and  of  the 
ninety-four,  Yale  two  hundred  and  ninety-five,  and  College 
Princeton  two  hundred  and  forty.  Mr.  Webster  re- 
ferred in  his  argument  to  Dartmouth  as  a  "small  col- 
lege." It  was  a  small  college,  but  not  small  as  related 
to  its  neighbors,  nor  insufficient  as  related  to  its  work. 
It  gave  Mr.  Webster  what  he  was  capable  of  receiving 
in  the  way  of  instruction,  stimulus  and  opportunity. 
And  when  the  time  came  for  him  to  repay  his  debt  to 
the  College  he  simply  did  his  duty.  He  did  no  more 
than  he  ought  to  have  done,  no  more  than  any  graduate 
ought  to  do  for  his  college  with  a  like  opportunity  be- 
fore him  and  with  equal  resources  at  his  command.  It 
was  natural,  too,  that  he  should  continue  to  love  his 
college  to  the  end,  and  rejoice  that  he  was  apart  of  it, 
as  natural  as  was  his  love  of  kindred  and  of  nature.  I 
dwell  upon  the  simplicity  and  constancy  of  Mr.  Web- 
ster's feeling  toward  the  College,  because  these  qualities 
explain  so  largely  our  feeling  toward  him.  His  loyalty 
was  commensurate  with  his  power  of  service,  his  af- 
fection was  as  deep  as  his  nature. 

We,  therefore,  who  are  reaping  the  fruits  of  his 
devotion,  have  taken  the  earliest  opportunity,  that  af- 
forded by  the  centennial  of  his  graduation,  to  express 
our  gratitude  and  pride.  The  first  suggestion  of  the 
present  observance,  so  far  as  I  know,  certainly  antici- 
pating my  own  thought,  came  from  a  class-mate,  Mr. 
David  H.  Brown  of  Boston.  I  soon  found,  however, 
that  the  thought  was  in  many  minds,  and  the  feeling  in 
many  hearts.  The  sentiment  obtained  everywhere 

101 


The  among  the  alumni  that  there  should  be  some  appropriate 

President  recognition  of  the  anniversary  of  Mr.  Webster's  gradua- 

of  the  tion.      At  a  meeting  of  the  trustees,  held  on  January 

College  nineteenth,  1900,  it  was  decided  to  take  definite  action 

as  indicated  by  the  following  resolution  : 

' '  In  view  of  the  fact  that  the  Commencement  of 
1901  will  be  the  one  hundredth  anniversary  of  the 
graduation  of  Daniel  Webster,  whose  supreme  service 
to  the  College  in  recovering  and  re-establishing  its 
chartered  rights  calls  for  recognition  on  the  part  of  the 
sons  of  Dartmouth : 

"  Be  it  voted  that  the  centennial  of  Mr.  Webster's 
graduation  be  observed  as  an  academic  occasion  at 
Hanover,  at  such  time  in  the  year  1901  and  in  such 
manner  as  may  be  appropriate,  to  be  participated  in  by 
the  faculty,  students,  alumni,  and  friends  of  the  Col- 
lege." 

In  accordance  with  the  terms  of  this  resolution  the 
commemoration  which  is  now  taking  place  is  personal 
and  institutional  rather  than  academic  in  its  broad  sense. 
We  have  not  asked  other  colleges  and  the  universities 
to  join  with  us  in  this  celebration.  We  did  not  wish, 
as  I  have  said,  to  seem  to  inaugurate  an  academic  cus- 
tom, neither  did  we  wish  to  prejudice  an  observance  by 
the  College  some  years  hence  of  a  strictly  academic 
event  or  combination  of  events.  The  year  1919  will  be 
the  one  hundred  and  fiftieth  anniversary  of  the  signing 
of  the  charter  of  the  College,  and  the  one  hundredth 
anniversary  of  the  decision  in  the  Dartmouth  College 
Case.  We  leave  to  our  successors  the  honor  of  observing 
that  year  as  a  great  academic  occasion.  Whatever  the 
present  occasion  may  lack,  however,  on  the  academic 

J02 


side  is  more  than  met  by  its  significance  as  a  civil  event.  The 
This  celebration  opens  to   us  not  only    Mr.  Webster's  President 
college  life  and  his  argument   for  the  College,  but  his  of  the 
whole  career.     We  have  asked  the  presence  of  the  State  College 
at  this   time   in   the   person   of   His    Excellency,    the 
Governor  of  New  Hampshire,  and  of  his  Councilors  and 
Staff,  in  the  person  of  the  members  of  the  Judiciary, 
and  of  the  representatives  of  the  Legislature.     We  have 
sought   the   informal  co-operation  of  the  neighboring 
State  in  which  so  much  of  Mr.  Webster's  professional 
and  political  life  was  passed,  and  we  are  honored  by  the 
gracious  response  of  the  senior   Senator   from   Massa- 
chusetts.     We    have    invited    the   recognition   of   the 
Government  at  Washington,  and  its  august  representa- 
tive is  with  us  in  the  person  of  the  Chief  Justice  of  the 
United  States. 

It  may  be  pardonable  to  add  to  this  word  of  ex- 
planation the  reminder  of  the  fact  that  as  we  celebrate 
this  past  event  we  find  ourselves  in  the  presence  of  a 
living  personality.  No  man  of  his  time  has  borne  the 
gradual  transfer  from  memory  to  tradition  with  so  little 
loss.  No  name  out  of  his  time  is  so  familiar  to-day  as 
his  name.  Mr.  Webster  was  never  loved  by  the  people 
at  large  as  some  men  have  been  loved.  Popular  affec- 
tion as  it  went  out  toward  him  grew  hesitant  in  the 
approach  and  became  awed  in  his  presence.  It  did  not 
quite  dare  that  passionate  fondness  which  some  men  allow 
in  their  success  ;  it  did  not  dare  that  compassionate  ten- 
derness which  some  men  would  welcome,  which  he 
might  have  welcomed,  in  decline  and  defeat.  But  in 
one  respect  the  personal  influence  of  Mr.  Webster  sur- 
passed and  continues  to  surpass  that  of  all  other  men, 

JOS 


The  namely,  in  his  influence  over  the  ambitions  of  young  men. 
President  During  his  life-time  Mr.  Beecher  had  many  imitators. 
of  the  Mr.  Webster's  power  was  deeper,  more  searching,  more 
College  creative.     It  touched  the  center  and   core   of   personal 
ambition,  stirring  young  men  to  make  the  most  of  them- 
selves and  to  act  with   most  effect   upon  others.     Mr. 
Webster  has  been  and  still  is  a  potent  influence  in  send- 
ing men  to  college,  into  the  law,  and  into  politics. 

Measured  in  broader  terms  his  influence  is  vital  to- 
day in  the  thought  and  feelings  of  men  in  respect  to  the 
country.  We  have  learned,  we  have  begun  to  learn,  to 
think  about  the  country  in  his  terms,  and  to  feel  about 
it  as  he  felt.  His  conceptions  were  so  great  that  they 
could  find  room  only  in  his  own  mind.  They  belong 
to  the  United  States  of  to-day,  not  to  the  nation  of  his 
time.  Thus  far  Mr.  Webster  is  the  only  man  who  has 
comprehended  the  American  people.  Until  a  greater 
American  than  he  shall  arise,  he  will  live  in  the  still 
unfulfilled  destiny  of  the  Republic. 


Webster  Centennial  Oration. 

<By  the  Honorable  Samuel  Walker  ZMcCall,  '74,  of 

cMassachusetis . 
President  Tucker,  and  Ladies  and  Gentlemen : 

EARLY  half  a  century  has  elapsed  since  the  Col- 
lege gave  formal  expression  to  its  sorrow  at  the 
death  of  Daniel  Webster.  The  life  of  that  great 
statesman  had  just  ended.  On  this  very  spot  Rufus 
Choate  spoke  his  eulogy.  Sympathy  in  a  common  po- 
litical cause  and  the  attachment  of  a  life-long  friendship 
stimulated  an  almost  unrivaled  gift  of  eloquence  to  the 
production  of  a  masterpiece  among  orations  of  that  na- 

J04 


ture,  a  speech  of  which  Mr.  Everett  expressed  the  opin-  Samuel 
ion  that  it  was  ' '  as  magnificent  a  eulogium  as  was  ever  Walker 
pronounced."  It  was  a  time  for  the  eulogy  of  friends, 
and  for  the  expression  of  a  sense  of  desolateness  over 
the  departure  of  so  transcendent  a  figure,  but  it  was  no 
time  for  a  just  estimate  of  Webster  either  as  a  man  or  a 
statesman.  His  career  had  been  too  great  to  be  compre- 
hended by  a  near  view.  It  demanded  that  perspective 
without  which  only  a  distorted  outline  of  vast  objects 
can  be  obtained.  The  passion  of  partisanship  was  hot 
and  surging.  Above  the  deep  tones  of  praise  arose  the 
sharp  clamor  of  detraction.  Across  the  horizon  which 
shut  out  the  near  future  could  be  heard  the  beating  of 
the  drums  which  he  had  set  throbbing  for  the  Union. 
The  chief  work  of  his  life  was  yet  to  be  tried  in  the  fur- 
nace of  civil  war.  It  required  that  most  inexorable  of 
all  tests — the  test  of  time. 

Transient  movements  and  the  mere  noises  of  un- 
substantial reputations  have  had  time  to  pass  into  the 
silence  of  oblivion.  A  generation  that  knew  him  not 
has  come  upon  the  scene.  We  can  now  see  something 
of  the  proper  and  ultimate  relations  of  events.  We  are 
now  able  somewhat  dispassionately  to  judge.  The  ob- 
servance, amid  general  approval,  of  this  unique  occasion 
bears  its  own  eloquent  tribute.  That  so  many  who  oc- 
cupy positions  of  responsibility  and  distinction,  and  to 
whom  Webster  is  merely  a  historical  personage,  should 
come  here  to-day,  as  to  a  shrine,  from  all  parts  of  the 
country,  fifty  years  after  he  has  disappeared  from  the 
view  of  men,  is  of  striking  significance.  The  loadstone 
that  draws  you  is  his  fame.  Obviously  the  stupendous 
events  of  that  half  century  have  not  dwarfed  him.  The 

105 


Samuel  distance  at  which  most  of  us  disappear  hardly  serves  to 

Walker  bring  out  his  heroic  proportions,  and  we  are  here  to-day 

McCall  to  do  homage  to  a  statesman  who  easily  takes  rank  as 

the  foremost  figure  in  our  parliamentary  history. 

The  task  of  fully  reviewing  his  career  goes  far  be- 
yond the  limits  of  this  occasion.  I  shall  endeavor  to 
set  before  you  some  estimate  of  him  as  a  lawyer,  an  ora- 
tor, and  a  statesman,  and  shall  recall  to  your  minds  some 
of  the  great  principles  of  government  with  which  he  was 
identified.  I  shall  ask  you  also  to  look  at  him  for  a  mo- 
ment in  the  supreme  relation  in  which  he  stood  to  his 
fellow  men;  for  back  of  the  orator,  or  statesman,  or  law- 
yer there  stands  the  essential  thing  that  is  manifested  in 
them,  there  stands  the  man. 

And  I  should  fail  to  perform  the  most  obvious  duty 
if  I  did  not  refer  to  his  relations  to  the  College  which 
helped  to  nurture  his  genius  and  towards  which  he  bore 
a  filial  love.  When  he  entered  the  College  more  than 
one  hundred  years  ago  it  had  attained  a  considerable  de- 
gree of  prosperity.  For  a  quarter  of  a  century  after 
Wheelock  planted  it  in  the  wilderness  it  remained  the 
only  college  in  northern  New  England,  and  the  rapid 
settlement  of  the  country  about  it  gave  it  a  constituency 
respectable  in  numbers  and  still  more  respectable  in 
character.  Webster  came  from  one  of  the  frontier  fami- 
lies that  crowded  into  this  region.  When  the  smoke 
first  curled  from  the  chimney  of  his  father's  log  cabin  in 
Salisbury,  there  was,  as  the  son  has  said,  "  no  similar 
evidence  of  a  white  man's  habitation  between  it  and  the 
settlements  on  the  rivers  of  Canada."  Professor  Wen- 
dell tells  us  in  his  scholarly  book  on  American  literature 
that  Webster  was  the  u  son  of  a  New  Hampshire  coun- 

106 


tryman,"  and  again,  that  "  he  retained  so  many  traces  of  Samuel 
his  far  from  eminent  New  Hampshire  origin  ' '  that  he  was  Walker 
less  typical  of  the  Boston  orators  than  were  some  other  McCall 
men.  It  is  true  that  the  father  was  a  "New  Hampshire 
countryman,"  and  he  does  not  appear  to  have  attained 
any  remarkable  eminence.  But  only  the  most  cautious 
inference  should  be  drawn  from  a  surface  or  negative 
fact  of  that  character,  in  a  past  necessarily  covered  for 
the  most  part  with  darkness.  A  great  deal  is  to-day  un- 
known about  that  sturdy  race  of  men  who  swarmed 
over  our  frontiers  more  than  a  century  ago,  and  especial- 
ly a  great  deal  that  was  worthy  and  noble  in  individuals. 
And  it  is  hardly  useful  to  turn  to  a  doubtful  past  in  or- 
der to  learn  of  a  known  present,  or  to  judge  of  a  son 
whom  we  know  well  from  a  father  of  whom  we  know 
but  little.  It  is  often  more  safe  to  judge  of  the  an- 
cestor from  the  descendant  than  of  the  descendant  from 
the  ancestor.  I  supposed  that  Daniel  Webster  had  for- 
ever settled  the  essential  character  of  the  stock  from 
which  he  sprung,  just  as  the  pure  gold  of  Lincoln's 
character  unerringly  points  to  a  mine  of  unalloyed  met- 
al somewhere,  if  there  is  anything  in  the  principles  of 
heredity  ;  and  whether  the  mine  is  known  or  unknown, 
its  gold  will  pass  current  even  at  the  Boston  mint.  Per- 
haps neither  of  these  men  in  himself  or  in  his  origin 
was  wholly  typical  of  any  place,  but  it  is  enough  that 
they  were  typical  of  America.  But  what  we  know  of 
Webster's  father  indicates  the  origin  of  some  of  the 
great  qualities  of  the  son.  He  was  a  man  of  much  na- 
tive strength  of  intellect  and  of  resolute  independence  of 
^character.  He  was  an  officer  in  the  Revolutionary  army, 
and,  although  never  trained  to  the  law,  was  thought  fit 

J07 


Samuel  to  be  appointed  to  a  judicial  office  of  considerable  impor- 
Walker  tance.  He  had  those  magnificent  physical  qualities 
McCall  which  made  the  son  a  source  of  wonder  to  all  who  knew 
him.  He  had,  too,  a  heart  which,  the  son  once  said, 
u  he  seemed  to  have  borrowed  from  a  lion. n  "Your 
face  is  not  so  black,  Daniel,"  Stark  once  said  "as  your 
father's  was  with  gunpowder  at  the  Bennington  fight." 
And  on  the  night  after  the  discovery  of  Arnold's  trea- 
son, at  that  dark  moment  when  even  the  faithful  might 
be  thought  faithless,  and  the  safety  of  the  new  nation 
demanded  a  sure  arm  to  lean  upon,  it  was  then,  accord- 
ing to  the  tradition,  that  Webster  was  put  in  command 
of  the  guard  before  the  headquarters  of  our  general,  and 
George  Washington,  another  "countryman,"  said, 
"Captain  Webster,  I  believe  I  can  trust  _you." 

I  have  alluded  to  the  prosperity  which  the  College 
soon  attained  on  account  of  the  rapid  settlement  of  this 
region.  During  the  ten  years  immediately  preceding 
the  year  of  Webster's  graduation  it  was  second  among 
the  colleges  of  the  country  in  the  number  of  graduates 
to  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts.  But  whatever  may 
have  been  its  relative  rank  the  one  thing  most  certainly 
known  about  it  now  is  that  it  was  a  small  college.  The 
pathetic  statement  of  Webster  in  the  argument  of  its 
cause  at  the  bar  of  the  Supreme  Court  has  settled  that 
fact  for  all  time.  It  is  true  that  it  was  a  day  of  small 
things,  but  the  smallness  of  contemporary  objects  was 
not  immortalized  by  the  touch  of  genius,  which  has  it  in 
its  power  to  endow  with  perpetual  life  any  passing  con- 
dition or  mood  in  the  life  of  a  man  or  an  institution. 
Fifty  generations  have  grown  old  and  died  since  the- 
Greek  artist  carved  his  marble  urn,  but  the  maiden  and 

(08 


her  lover  chiselled  there  are  still  young,  and  to  the  im-  Samuel 
mortality  conferred  by  art  has  been  added  the  immortal-  Walker 
ity  of  poetry  in  the  noble  verse  of  Keats  :  ''Forever  wilt  McCall 
thou  love  and  she  be  fair." 

The  College  has  grown  wonderfully  in  the  century 
since  Webster  left  her.  It  is  our  hope  that  the  pros- 
perity of  her  past  may  be  eclipsed  by  the  prosperity  of 
her  future.  But  however  great  she  may  become  here- 
after, the  genius  of  her  son  has  made  it  impossible  to  be 
forgotten  that  she  was  once  a  small  college. 

The  schooling  of  Webster  before  he  entered  college 
was  of  a  very  limited  character.  He  appears  to  have 
been  well  drilled  in  Latin,  but  he  possessed  only  the 
rudiments  of  English,  and  of  Greek  he  knew  very  little. 
It  must  not  be  overlooked,  however,  that  even  at  his 
early  age  he  had  acquired  a  fondness  for  the  Spectator 
and  for  other  good  English  books.  While  in  college  he 
broadened  his  reading  of  English  and  history  until  he 
was  said  to  be  at  the  head  of  his  class  in  those  branches. 
Perhaps  his  most  positive  acquirement  was  in  the  Latin 
language,  in  which  he  became  a  good  scholar  and  which 
he  continued  to  study  in  after  life.  A  profound  knowl- 
edge of  a  foreign  tongue  can  hardly  be  conclusively  in- 
ferred from  frequent  quotations  from  it.  In  the  oratory 
of  the  first  half  of  the  last  century  the  Latin  quotation 
was  an  established  institution,  and  for  much  of  it  little 
more  than  the  manual  custody  of  the  Latin  author  was 
apparently  necessary.  But  the  quotations  from  that 
language  in  Webster's  speeches  were  apt  and  usually 
betrayed  an  insight  into  the  meaning  of  the  author,  deep 
enough  often  to  get  a  second  or  poetical  meaning.  He 
continued  to  neglect  Greek,  probably  because  he  had 

J09 


Samuel  been  so  miserably  prepared  in  it,  and  long  afterwards  he 
Walker  lamented  that  he  had  not  studied  it  until  he  could  read 
McCall  an(j  understand  Demosthenes  in  his  own  tongue.  The 
course  of  study  which  he  followed  was  the  rigid  and  un- 
yielding course  of  that  day,  where  every  branch  was  im- 
partially prescribed  for  everybody.  Mr.  Ticknor  is  au- 
thority for  the  statement  that  the  instruction  in  the  Col- 
lege was  meagre.  This  appears  to  have  been  a  fault  of 
the  times  rather  than  a  particular  fault  of  the  College; 
for  a  dozen  years  after  Webster's  graduation,  and  in 
Boston,  Mr.  Ticknor  himself  succeeded  in  getting  the 
necessary  books  to  study  German  only  with  the  greatest 
difficulty.  He  discovered  a  text-book  in  the  Boston 
Athenaeum  which  appears  to  have  been  so  much  of  a 
curiosity  that  it  was  deposited  there  by  John  Quincy 
Adams  on  going  abroad  ;  and  then  he  was  forced  to  send 
to  New  Hampshire  for  a  dictionary.  But  however  nar- 
row the  course  of  study  compared  with  that  of  the  mod- 
ern college,  it  contained  the  means  of  much  excellent 
discipline  and  the  years  spent  in  its  pursuit  laid  the  foun- 
dation of  a  broad  culture  and  prepared  the  way  for  the 
development  of  thinkers  and  scholars.  The  debating 
society  was  an  institution  to  which  Webster  was  devoted 
and  from  which  he  derived  great  benefit.  It  enabled 
him  to  overcome  his  timidity  which  had  been  so  great 
at  Exeter  that  it  was  impossible  for  him  to  recite  his 
declamations  before  the  school,  and  he  became  in  col- 
lege a  ready  and  self-possessed  debater.  I  do  not  find  it 
easy,  however,  to  detect  under  the  flowers  of  his  early 
rhetoric  the  promise  of  that  weighty  and  concentrated 
style  which  afterwards  distinguished  him.  But  his  col- 
lege efforts  were  a  necessary  part  of  his  intellectual  de- 

110 


velopment.     It  was  better  that  the  inborn  desire  to  lit-  Samuel 
ter  fine  words  without  meaning  should  be  satisfied  in  Walker 
youth,  when  it  could  be  satisfied  with  comparative  safe-  McCall 
ty,  than  that  it  should  be  restrained  at  the  risk  of  grati- 
fication when  he  caine  to  perform  the  sober  duties  of 
life.     Although   not   the   first    in   scholarship   he   un- 
doubtedly  acquired    a   leadership    among    his   college 
mates.     His  popularity  was  the  natural  result  of  the  dis- 
play of  his  ability  and  manly  qualities  in  that  most  just 
and  perfect  democracy  in  the  world — a  democracy  of 
schoolboys.     It  lingered  in  the  College  after  he  left  it; 
and   when  he  returned  after   his  graduation  with  the 
"shekels,"  as  he  expressed  it,  which  he  had  earned  for 
his  brother  Ezekiel,  he  was  received  as  quite  a  hero. 

It  is  difficult  to  believe,  in  view  of  the  majestic  pro- 
portions of  his  later  years,  that  he  was  ever  slender  and 
delicate,  but  he  is  spoken  of  as  being  in  his  college  days 
"  long,  slender,  pale  and  all  eyes."  But  his  slight 
form  supported  an  enormous  mass  of  head,  with  its  no- 
ble brow  crowned  by  hair  as  black  as  the  wing  of  a  rav- 
en. Undoubtedly  his  most  striking  features  were 
those  wonderful  black  eyes,  which  near  the  end  of  his 
life  Carlyle  spoke  of  as  "dull  anthracite  furnaces,  need- 
ing only  to  be  blown,"  but  which  were  then  lighted  up 
with  the  fire  and  brilliancy  of  youth.  His  nature  un- 
folded itself  slowly.  Far  from  being  forward  it  required 
a  strong  effort  for  him  to  overcome  his  bashfulness.  He 
displayed  while  in  college  the  qualities  of  a  large, 
undeveloped  nature  and  led  a  careless,  happy  and  some- 
what indolent  existence. 

There  was  that  in  his  appearance  at  that  early  day 
which  arrested  attention  and  dispensed  with  the  neces- 

\\\ 


Samuel  sity  of  the  ordinary  introduction.  Soon  after  leaving 
"Walker  college  he  entered  the  law  office  of  the  accomplished 
McCall  Christopher  Gore  of  Boston,  presented  by  one  as  un- 
known as  himself,  who  could  not  or  did  not  speak  his 
name, — under  circumstances  surely  that  would  not 
ordinarily  secure  a  hearing,  much  less  employment  of  a 
confidential  character,  but  the  attention  of  the  busy 
lawyer  and  man  of  the  world  was  at  once  secured  and 
Webster  was  told  to  go  to  work.  His  connection  with 
Gore  proved  of  great  value,  not  so  much  because  it  gave 
him  an  opportunity  to  study  his  profession,  under  as 
favorable  conditions  probably  as  then  existed,  but 
because  Gore's  advice  deterred  him  from  taking  a  step 
which  might  have  kept  him  from  his  great  career. 
Webster  was  offered  the  clerkship  of  a  New  Hampshire 
court  with  a  salary  which,  in  his  circumstances,  was  a 
tempting  one,  and  he  had  no  other  thought  than  to 
accept  it.  Gore  clearly  saw  that  he  was  capable  of 
performing  a  far  higher  part  in  the  world,  and  he  doubt- 
less saw,  too,  the  danger  that  the  competency  which  the 
place  offered  might  tempt  him  from  making  the  hard 
struggle  necessary  to  establish  himself  at  the  bar.  He 
strongly  urged  Webster  to  decline  the  position  and  thus 
rendered  him  a  great  service  in  keeping  him  upon  the 
arduous  road.  It  was  a  fortunate  circumstance,  too,  in 
his  early  career  that  it  fell  to  his  lot  to  meet  often  in 
the  courts  so  great  a  lawyer  as  Jeremiah  Mason.  When 
Webster  came  to  the  Portsmouth  bar  he  found  Mason 
its  unquestioned  leader.  Mason  was  a  giant  mentally 
and  physically,  thoroughly  trained  in  his  profession, 
with  an  absolute  contempt  for  rhetorical  ornament,  and 
a  way  of  talking  directly  at  juries  in  a  terse  and  informal 


style  which  they  could  comprehend,  standing,  as  Samuel 
Webster  expressed  it,  so  that  he  might  put  his  finger  Walker 
on  the  foreman's  nose.  Long  afterwards,  when  Webster's  McCall 
fame  as  a  lawyer  and  statesman  extended  over  the  whole 
country,  he  wrote  it  as  his  deliberate  opinion  of  Mason 
that  if  there  was  a  stronger  intellect  in  the  country  he 
did  not  know  it.  From  this  estimate  he  would  not 
even  except  John  Marshall.  Webster  quickly  outstripped 
his  other  rivals,  and  for  nine  years  he  maintained  the 
struggle  against  this  formidable  antagonist  for  supremacy 
at  the  Portsmouth  bar.  He  was  compelled  to  overcome 
his  natural  tendency  to  indolence  and  to  make  the  most 
careful  preparation  of  his  cases.  The  rivalry  called 
into  play  the  most  strenuous  exercise  of  all  his  faculties. 
The  intellectual  vigilance  and  readiness  which  became 
his  marked  characteristics  in  debate  were  especially 
cultivated.  He  soon  saw  the  futility  of  florid  declamation 
against  the  simple  style  of  Mason,  and  his  own  elo- 
quence rapidly  passed  out  of  the  efflorescent  stage  and 
became  direct  and  full  of  the  Saxon  quality,  although 
he  never  affected  little  words  and  would  use  a  strong 
word  of  Latin  origin  when  it  would  answer  his  purpose. 
When  his  practice  at  the  Portsmouth  bar  came  to  an 
end  he  had  proved  his  ability  to  contend  on  even  terms, 
at  least,  with  Mason,  and  he  had  developed  those  great 
qualities  which  enabled  him  to  take  his  place  as  the 
leader  of  the  Boston  bar,  almost  without  a  struggle, 
and  to  step  at  an  early  age  into  the  front  rank  of  the 
lawyers  who  contended  in  the  Supreme  Court  at 
Washington. 

This  occasion  demands  more  than  a  passing  refer- 
ence to  the  cause  in  which  Webster  gained  a  recognized 

H3 


Samuel  place  among  the  leaders  of  the  bar  of  the  national 
Walker  Supreme  Court,  for  it  possesses  a  double  importance  to 
McCall  us  to-day.  It  marked  an  epoch  in  his  professional 
career  and  it  vitally  concerned  the  existence  of  this 
College.  The  Dartmouth  College  causes  grew  out  of 
enactments  of  the  New  Hampshire  legislature,  making 
amendments  in  the  charter  which  differed  little  from 
repeal.  These  acts  did  not  spring  primarily  from  a 
desire  to  improve  the  charter,  but  were  the  outgrowth 
of  a  division  in  the  board  of  trustees,  one  of  the  parties 
endeavoring  to  secure  by  legislation  the  control  which 
it  had  lost  in  the  board  itself.  In  substance  the  legis- 
lative acts  created  a  new  corporation  and  transferred  to 
it  all  the  property  of  the.  College.  There  would  have 
been  little  security  in  the  charters  of  colleges  or  of 
similar  establishments  in  this  country  if  state  legislatures 
generally  had  possessed  the  power  to  pass  acts  of  that 
sweeping  character.  The  trustees  made  a  struggle  for 
self-preservation  against  great  odds.  The  dominant 
political  forces  in  the  state  were  hostile;  the  legislature 
was  against  them;  and,  as  it  turned  out,  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  state  was  against  them  also.  The  contest 
was  first  made  in  the  state  court ,  and  it  is  rare  that  there 
has  ever  been  brought  together  in  a  trial  in  any  court 
such  an  array  of  lawyers  as  appeared  in  the  little  court- 
room at  Exeter.  Webster  appeared  for  the  College. 
He  had  with  him  Jeremiah  Mason  and  Jeremiah  Smith. 
Webster  and  Mason  formed  a  combination  which  could 
not  be  surpassed  in  strength  by  that  of  any  other  two 
lawyers  at  the  American  bar,  while  Smith,  the  former 
chief  justice  of  the  state,  was  probably  its  most  learned 
lawyer.  It  is  no  disparagement  of  the  counsel  against 

JJ4 


the  College  to  say  that  they  were  overmatched.  They  Samuel 
were,  however,  great  lawyers,  Sullivan  the  attorney-  Walker 
general,  and  Ichabod  Bartlett,  a  hard  fighter  and  an  McCall 
ingenious  and  eloquent  advocate.  Both  sides  were  fully 
prepared  in  the  state  court,  and  it  may  well  be  doubted 
whether  New  Hampshire  has  ever  witnessed  such 
another  intellectual  contest  as  took  place  at  Exeter  over 
the  College  charter.  Webster's  speech  does  not  appear 
in  the  printed  report  of  the  proceedings  in  the  state 
court.  He  was  the  only  one  of  the  counsel  on  either  side 
in  the  New  Hampshire  court  who  took  part  at  Washing- 
ton, and  he  apparently  did  not  wish  to  be  reported  twice 
in  the  same  cause.  But  at  Exeter  he  closed  for  his  side 
in  a  speech  of  great  brilliancy;  and  his  "  Caesar  in  the 
Senate  House"  peroration,  which  is  said  to  have 
brought  tears  to  the  eyes  of  John  Marshall  at  Washing- 
ton, was  spoken  in  substance  and  with  thrilling  effect. 
The  decision  of  the  New  Hampshire  court  was  against 
the  College  and  disposed  of  the  point  which  appeared 
to  be  the  strongest  in  its  case,  that  the  legislature  was 
inherently  incapable  of  passing  the  acts  in  question 
because  vested  rights  could  not  be  taken  away  without  a 
judgment  which  could  be  rendered  only  by  the  judiciary. 
It  also  settled  the  claim  that  the  statutes  in  question 
were  in  contravention  of  the  constitution  of  New  Hamp- 
shire. The  simple  ground  of  appeal  to  the  federal 
Supreme  Court  lay  in  the  contention  that  the  College 
charter  was  a  contract  and  was  under  the  protection  of 
that  clause  of  the  federal  constitution  which  prohibited 
states  from  passing  laws  impairing  the  obligation  of 
contracts.  Webster  did  indeed  state  the  whole  argument 
before  the  court  at  Washington,  but  only  for  the  pur- 

115 


Samuel  pose  of    illustration  and  very  likely  also  for  collateral 

"Walker  effect  upon  the  court. 

McCall  The  point  upon  which  the  court  had  jurisdiction 

was  regarded  by  the  College  counsel  as  a  forlorn  hope 
and  to  be  more  daring  and  novel  than  sound.  It  ap- 
parently originated  with  Mason.  It  was,  however,  the 
only  ground  open  on  the  appeal,  and  this  was  a  fortunate 
circumstance  for  the  fame  of  the  cause.  If  the  whole 
cause  had  been  subject  to  review  it  might  well  have 
been  decided  upon  one  of  the  other  grounds,  and  thus 
it  would  not  have  become  one  of  the  great  land- 
marks of  constitutional  law.  Wirt,  who  was  then  the 
attorney-general  of  the  United  States,  and  Holmes 
appeared  at  Washington  against  the  College,  and 
Hopkinson  with  Webster  in  its  favor.  It  must  be 
admitted  that  Webster  possessed  an  advantage  over  the 
other  counsel.  He  had  fought  over  the  ground,  when 
it  was  most  stubbornly  contested,  and  knew  every  inch 
of  it.  His  whole  soul  was  in  his  case.  He  had  the 
briefs  of  Mason  and  Smith  as  well  as  his  own  and  had 
absorbed  every  point  in  all  the  great  arguments  on  his 
side  at  Exeter.  He  generously  gave  all  the  credit  to 
Smith  and  Mason.  He  was  interested  in  preventing 
the  printing  of  the  Exeter  speeches  because,  he  said,  it 
would  show  where  he  got  his  plumes.  This  was 
undoubtedly  too  generous,  but  his  debt  was  a  great  one, 
and  no  lawyer  was  ever  better  prepared  than  Webster 
was  when  he  rose  to  speak  in  the  College  cause.  He 
possessed  too  as  great  a  mastery  of  his  opponents' 
arguments  as  of  his  own.  With  his  extraordinary 
power  of  eloquence  thus  armed  it  is  not  strange  that  the 
court  was  to  witness  a  revelation  and  that  he  was 

116 


destined  to  a  great  personal  triumph.  He  took  the  Samuel 
part  of  junior  counsel  and  opened  the  argument,  but  Walker 
when  he  took  his  seat  after  five  hours  of  high  reason  McCall 
and  clear  statement,  kindled  with  tremendous  passion 
and  delivered  with  all  the  force  of  his  wonderful 
personality,  the  case  had  been  both  opened  and  closed 
and  nothing  remained  to  be  said.  The  spectators  were 
astonished  and  overawed.  It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at 
that  Marshall  sat  enchained  and  that  Story  forgot  to 
take  notes.  The  counsel  against  the  College  were  far 
from  being  so  well  prepared.  Webster  afterwards  wrote 
a  letter  to  Wirt  complimenting  him  upon  his  argument 
and  Wirt  apparently  satisfied  himself;  but  the  tremendous 
performance  by  Webster  took  his  antagonists  by  sur- 
prise. The  personal  triumph  of  the  latter  was  complete 
and  it  was  followed  by  the  triumph  of  his  cause.  The 
argument  won  over  Story,  who  had  been  counted  on  by 
the  opponents  of  the  College,  as  the  reading  of  it  after- 
wards won  over  Chancellor  Kent,  who  had  at  first  ap- 
proved the  decision  of  the  New  Hampshire  court.  A 
majority  of  the  court  was  carried,  and  carried  probably 
by  the  eloquence  of  the  advocate ;  the  College  was 
saved,  and  at  the  same  time  there  was  witnessed  the 
birth  of  a  great  principle  of  constitutional  law  and  of  a 
great  national  fame. 

There  have  been  arguments  before  the  same  high 
tribunal  more  discursively  eloquent,  more  witty,  and 
delivered  with  a  greater  parade  of  learning;  but  in  the 
boldness,  novelty,  and  far  reaching  character  of  the 
propositions  advanced,  in  the  strength  with  which  they 
were  maintained,  in  the  judgment  with  which  the  points 
of  argument  were  selected  and  the  skill  with  which 

H7 


Samuel  they  were  pressed  upon  the  court,  in  the  natural 
"Walker  oratorical  passion,  so  consuming  that  for  five  hours  the 
McCall  spectators  were  held  spellbound  by  a  discussion  of 
questions  of  law,  no  greater  speech  was  ever  made 
before  the  Supreme  Court.  No  other  advocate  in  that 
tribunal  ever  equalled  what  he  himself  never  surpassed. 
The  published  report  of  this  speech  is  apparently  much 
condensed  and  contains  only  the  outlines  of  what  was 
said.  There  is  no  hint  of  the  beautiful  peroration. 
Mr.  Ticknor  says  of  the  printed  version  that  those  who 
heard  him  when  the  speech  was  delivered  ' '  still  wonder 
how  such  dry  bones  could  ever  have  lived  with  the  power 
they  there  witnessed  and  felt."  But  even  the  printed 
version  is  a  classic  in  its  severe  simplicity  and  beauty. 
Although  this  was  not  the  first  cause  argued  by  Webster 
before  the  national  high  court,  it  especially  marked  the 
beginning  of  a  career  which  continued  for  more  than  a 
third  of  a  century  and  stamps  him  on  the  whole  as  the 
greatest  figure  who  ever  appeared  at  that  august  bar. 

And  here  at  this  first  high  point  in  his  professional 
career  it  may  be  appropriate  to  take  a  view  of  him  as  an 
advocate  and  a  lawyer.  His  greater  fame  doubtless  was 
won  as  a  statesman  and  political  orator  because  it  was 
won  in  a  broader  forum,  but  to  him  belongs  the  rare 
distinction  of  pre-eminence  in  Congress  and  the  courts. 
It  is  sometimes  said  that  there  is  an  incompatibility  in 
the  qualities  that  make  a  great  advocate  and  a  great 
parliamentary  orator.  Certainly  there  are  instances  of 
men  who  were  highly  successful  in  one  capacity  and 
who  failed  in  the  other.  But  such  instances  will 
usually  be  found  where  eminence  was  gained  in  one 
career,  and  mental  habits  adjusted  to  its  demands  before 

ns 


the  other  began.      Webster  entered  upon   his   double  Samuel 
career  early  in  life  and  his  development  in  each  branch  "Walker 
of  it   contributed    to   his   development   in    the    other.  McCall 
He  had  scarcely  become  established  at  the  bar  before  he 
engaged   in   the  public  service   and   he  pursued   both 
careers  concurrently  during  the  remainder  of  his  life. 
His  efforts  at   the   bar   made  him   more   definite   and 
accurate  in  the  Senate  and  his  experience  as  a  statesman 
broadened    him   as   a   lawyer.     His    qualities   became 
equally  commanding  in  both  fields. 

He  was  doubtless  excelled  in  some  departments  of 
his  profession  by  other  lawyers;  Curtis  was  more  deeply 
versed  in  the  law;  Choate  surpassed  him,  as,  indeed,  he 
surpassed  all  others  in  the  constant  brilliancy  of  his  ad- 
vocacy'before  juries,  although  Webster  made  one  speech 
to  a  jury  which  Choate  never  equalled.  But  I  think  it 
can  be  said  without  exaggeration  that,  more  nearly  than 
any  other,  Webster  filled  the  large  circle  of  requirements 
for  that  high  place,  and  that  he  stands  at  the  head  of  the 
whole  American  bar. 

He  has  often  been  contrasted  with  William  Pinck- 
ney,  I  suppose  because  the  latter  during  the  first  thirty 
years  of  the  court's  history  was  the  most  conspicuous 
figure  at  its  bar.  They  were  never  fairly  measured  di- 
rectly against  each  other.  Webster  came  prominently 
into  view  just  as  Pinckney's  sun  was  setting.  When  he 
argued  the  Dartmouth  College  Case  he  was  only  thirty- 
six  years  old  and  had  had  barely  a  dozen  years  of  prac- 
tice, most  of  it  in  a  small  New  Hampshire  town  where 
the  causes  were  neither  numerous  nor  important.  Al- 
though he  would  not  suffer  by  the  comparison  it  would 
be  obviously  unfair  to  take  him  at  this  comparatively 

U9 


Samuel  immature  period  and  place  him  by  the  side  of  a  seasoned 
Walker  veteran   like  Pinckney,  who  was  seventeen   years   his 
McCall  senior,  and  who  possessed  the  great  prestige  and  develop- 
ment which  came  from  having  worthily  rilled  the  most 
important  offices  of  the  government,  and  from  his  great 
practice  before  the  Supreme  Court,  at  the  bar  of  which 
he  was  the  acknowledged  leader.     A  fairer  comparison 
would  be  between  Pinckney  at  the  summit  of  his  fame, 
when  he  attempted  to  press  for  a  re- argument  of  the  Col- 
lege cause  and  John  Marshall  turned  his  "blind  eye" 
towards  him,  and  Webster  at  the  same  age  and  period  of 
his  career,  after  he  had  argued  that  long  line  of  impor- 
tant constitutional  causes,    had   delivered    the  Bunker 
Hill  oration  and  the  reply  to  Hayne,  had  become  known 
abroad  and  his  own   country  rung  with  his  fame,  and 
when  he  stood  the  unchallenged  leader  of  a  far  larger, 
if  not  a  greater,  bar.     Pinckney  was  a  great  and  learned 
lawyer,  a   brilliant   orator   and   capable   of    close   and 
abstract  reasoning.     But  his  style  was  often  balanced 
and  artificial,   disfigured  by  affectation,  and  contained 
much  diffuse   declamation.     Its  faults   as   well    as   its 
merits  may  be  strikingly  seen  in  the  famous  argument 
in  the  Nereide  case,  of  which  John  Marshall  said  in  the 
opinion  of  the  court,  "  With  a  pencil   dipped   in  the 
most  vivid  colors  and  guided  by  the  hand  of  a  master  a 
splendid  portrait   has   been  drawn."      It   will    appear 
from  the  very  full  report  of  that  argument  which  sur- 
vives that  the  father  of  American   jurisprudence   was 
hardly  so  safe  a  judge  of  literary  coloring  as  of  law.     As 
to  Webster's  art,  if  as  an  advocate  he  can  be  credited 
with  art,  it  was  so  concealed  that  the  chief  justice  was 
not  called  upon  consciously  to  exercise  his  faculties  as 

J20 


a  judge  of  coloring.     Take  Pinckney's  greatest  efforts  at  Samuel 
the  bar,  in  the  Senate,  or  in  diplomacy,  and  compare  Walker 
them   with   corresponding    efforts   of    Webster    and  I  McCall 
believe  the  superiority  of  the  latter  will  be  distinctly 
seen. 

It  is  sometimes  said  of  Webster  that  he  was  not 
learned  in  the  law.  But  in  the  very  best  sense  of  the 
term  he  was  a  learned  lawyer.  If  his  mind  was  not  an 
encyclopedia  of  cases  it  was  a  storehouse  of  legal 
principles.  He  was  not  the  man  to  make  a  pedantic 
parade  and  to  obscure  the  essential  point  under  a  great 
mass  of  quotations  from  cases.  He  did  not  have  the 
habit  of  irrelevant  citation,  nor  did  he  throw  upon  the 
court  the  burden  of  winnowing  a  little  wheat  from  an 
enormous  quantity  of  chaff.  He  had  the  art  of  conden- 
sation and  would  select  the  genuine  points  of  his  case 
and  put  them  with  unsurpassed  simplicity  and  weight. 
He  possessed  to  a  remarkable  degree,  too,  the  inborn 
legal  sense  without  which  there  can  be  no  lawyer.  From 
the  day  when,  a  mere  stripling,  he  graduated  from  this 
College,  the  law  was  his  chief  study.  The  necessities 
of  his  great  practice  imposed  it  upon  him.  Usually  act- 
ing as  senior  counsel  in  important  cases,  he  had  the  ad- 
vantage of  the  preparation  of  learned  juniors.  He  was 
called  upon  in  court  to  display  a  mastery  of  his  own  side 
and  to  hear  and  meet  all  that  could  be  said  by  great  law- 
yers against  it.  His  memory  was  prodigious.  The 
result  of  it  all  was  that  with  his  great  natural  powers  thus 
disciplined  by  forty  years  of  practice,  one  would  have 
been  willing  to  back  him,  not  merely  as  a  parliamentary 
Hercules,  as  Carlyle  said,  but  as  a  legal  Hercules, 
against  the  whole  extant  world. 

121 


Samuel  A  great  part  of  a  lawyer's  work  is  ephemeral  and 

Walker  perishes  with  the  day  that  brought  it  forth.  Some  of 
McCall  the  miracles  which  Rufus  Choate  wrought  in  the  courts 
were  a  nine  days'  wonder,  passed  into  splendid  tra- 
ditions, and  were  then  forgotten.  This  is  due  to  the 
fact  that  while  there  are  many  causes  of  vast  consequence 
to  individuals  there  are  comparatively  few  which  are  of 
importance  to  society  generally  or  in  the  development 
of  the  law.  But  a  great  mass  of  Webster's  legal  work 
survives  and  ensures  him  a  permanent  fame  as  a  lawyer. 
Take  for  instance  the  case  of  Gibbons  and  Ogden,  where 
the  State  of  New  York  had  attempted  to  grant  a  mo- 
nopoly of  navigation  on  the  waters  under  its  juris- 
diction. The  doctrine  which  Webster  contended  for  in 
that  case  was  sustained  by  the  court.  In  a  time  when 
so  much  is  said  of  the  evils  of  granting  franchises  in  the 
public  streets,  we  can  appreciate  the  far-reaching  im- 
portance of  a  decision  which  at  one  stroke  forever 
rescued  our  great  lakes  and  harbors  and  the  Mississippi 
and  the  Ohio  from  the  grasp  of  monopolies  and  left  our 
inland  waters  open  highways  for  all  to  navigate  on  equal 
terms.  In  the  formative  period  of  our  institutions, 
when  their  limits  were  explored  in  the  courts  and  es- 
tablished by  judicial  construction,  there  were  great 
judges  besides  Marshall  and  great  lawyers  besides  Web- 
ster. But  Marshall  stands  in  America  unapproached  as 
a  jurist  just  as  Webster  stands  as  an  advocate  without  a 
rival.  The  former  set  our  constitutional  landmarks  and 
the  latter  pointed  out  where  they  should  be  placed. 
And  it  is  significant  of  Webster's  primacy  that  in  im- 
portant debates  to-day,  in  Congress  or  elsewhere,  upon 
great  questions  of  a  constitutional  character  or  of  a 

122 


political-legal    character,   relating    to   our  systems   of  Samuel 
government  and   the    nature  and  limitations   of   their  "Walker 
powers,  he  is  more  widely  quoted  than  any  other  law-   McCall 
yer,  whether  speaking  only  with  his  own  voice  or  ex 
cathedra  as  a  member  of  our  highest  court. 

An  important  sphere  of  his  professional  activity 
would  be  neglected  if  I  did  not  refer  to  his  strength  as 
an  advocate  before  juries.  The  same  simple  style  which 
enlightened  the  courts  made  him  easily  understood  by 
the  ordinary  juryman.  But  his  oratory  was  less  fettered 
by  technical  rules  and  was  more  varied  before  juries 
than  before  the  courts.  Only  two  of  his  very  many 
speeches  to  juries  are  preserved  in  his  published  works 
and  each  of  these  amply  demonstrates  his  enormous 
capacity  in  that  field.  I  will  refer  to  the  speech  de- 
livered in  the  White  murder  case,  because  it  has  been 
pronounced  by  eminent  lawyers,  who  are  accustomed 
to  measure  their  words,  to  be  the  greatest  argument 
ever  addressed  to  a  jury.  Certainly  it  is  a  masterpiece 
of  eloquence.  A  rich  old  man  had  been  found  in  his 
bed  murdered.  The  murderer  had  been  hired  by  two 
brothers  to  do  the  deed  in  the  hope  that  one  of  them 
might  profit  from  the  old  man's  estate.  "It  was," 
said  Webster,  "a  cool,  calculating,  money-making 
murder,"  a  murder  "  for  hire  and  salary,  not  revenge. 
It  was  the  weighing  of  money  against  life,  the  counting 
of  so  many  pieces  of  silver  against  so  many  ounces  of 
blood."  This  is  the  description  of  the  deed:  "The 
assassin  enters  through  the  window  already  prepared, 
into  an  unoccupied  apartment.  With  noiseless  foot  he 
paces  the  lonely  hall,  half  lighted  by  the  moon  ;  he 
winds  up  the  ascent  of  the  stairs  and  reaches  the  door 

J23 


Samuel  of  the  chamber.     Of  this  he  moves  the  lock,  by  soft  and 

Walker  continuous  pressure,  till  it  turns  on  its  hinges  without 

McCall  noise;  and  he  enters,  and  beholds  his  victim  before  him. 

The   room   is   uncommonly  open  to  the   admission  of 

light.     The  face  of  the  innocent  sleeper  is  turned  from 

the  murderer,  and  the  beams  of  the  moon,  resting  on 

the  grey  locks  of  his  aged  temple,  show  him  where  to 

strike.     The  fatal  blow  is  given  !  and  the  victim  passes, 

without  a  struggle  or  a  motion,  from  the  repose  of  sleep 

to  the  repose  of  death To   finish  the 

picture,  he  explores  the  wrist  for  the  pulse.  He  feels 
for  it  and  ascertains  that  it  beats  no  longer.  It  is  ac- 
complished. The  deed  is  done.  He  retreats,  retraces 
his  steps  to  the  window,  passes  out  through  it  as  he 
came  in,  and  escapes.  He  has  done  the  murder.  No 
eye  has  seen  him,  no  ear  has  heard  him.  The  secret  is 
his  own,  and  it  is  safe.  Ah  !  gentlemen,  that  was  a 
dreadful  mistake.  Such  a  secret  can  be  safe  nowhere. 
The  whole  creation  of  God  has  neither  nook  nor  corner 
where  the  guilty  can  bestow  it  and  say  it  is  safe."  And 
then  follows  the  wonderful  passage  on  the  power  of  con- 
science, which  is  almost  as  widely  known  as  the  pero- 
ration of  the  reply  to  Hayne.  It  is  a  striking  circum- 
stance that  the  most  powerful  part  of  this  speech  was 
upon  a  point  where  the  fact  was  against  Webster's  po- 
sition, although  he  may  not  have  been  aware  of  it. 
The  fact  however  was  an  unnatural  one,  as  facts  some- 
times are.  The  prisoner's  counsel  had  urged  that  the 
prisoner's  motive,  in  going  to  a  place  near  the  scene  of 
the  murder  at  the  time  it  was  committed,  might  have 
been  curiosity  and  not  that  he  might  aid  the  murderer. 
"  Curiosity,"  exclaimed  Webster,  "to  witness  the  suc- 

J24 


cess  of  the  execution  of  his  own  plan  of  murder  !     The  Samuel 
very   walls  of  a  court  house  ought  not   to  stand,  the  Walker 
ploughshare  should  run  through  the  ground  it  stands  McCall 
on   where   such   an   argument  could   find  toleration." 
Rufus  Choate,  who  appears  to  have  heard  this  speech 
and  who  was  also  a  fine  Greek  scholar,  declared  it  to  be 
in  his  opinion   ' '  a  more  difficult  and  higher  effort  of 
mind  than  the  Oration  on  the  Crown." 

But  prominent  as  Webster  was  in  the  courts,  his 
great  fame  rests  upon  his  career  as  a  political  orator  and 
a  statesman.  He  was  first  elected  to  Congress  in  1812 
and  from  that  time  until  his  death,  forty  years  after- 
wards, he  was,  with  the  exception  of  three  short  inter- 
vals, constantly  in  the  public  service.  He  was  for  ten 
years  a  representative  in  Congress,  nineteen  years  a 
Senator,  and  five  years  Secretary  of  State.  He  possessed 
no  meteoric  qualities  to  startle  and  attract  attention, 
but  his  commanding  talents  were  certain  of  recognition 
the  moment  they  were  displayed  upon  a  suitable  field. 
Within  one  month  from  the  time  he  first  took  his  seat 
in  the  House  he  made  a  speech  upon  the  Berlin  and 
Milan  decrees,  which  probed  deeply  into  the  causes  of 
the  war  we  were  waging  against  Great  Britain  and  which 
the  duplicity  of  Napoleon's  government  had  a  con- 
siderable share  in  bringing  about.  John  Marshall,  to 
whom  Webster  was  then  a  stranger,  was  so  deeply  im- 
pressed with  the  speech  that  he  predicted  that  Webster 
would  become  "one  of  the  very  first  statesmen  in 
America,  if  not  the  very  first."  During  his  first  Con- 
gress he  easily  took  a  place  among  the  very  limited 
number  of  public  men  of  the  first  rank  at  Washington, 


J25 


Samttel  and  he  grew  in  strength  and  the  public  esteem  until  he 
Walker  had  no  peer  among  living  American  statesmen. 
McCall  The  chief  source  of  his  success  as  a   statesman   is 

found  in  his  transcendent  power  of  speech.  When  his 
public  career  began,  a  highly  decorated  fashion  of  ora- 
tory, which  has  been  termed  the  Corinthian  style,  flour- 
ished in  this  country.  Our  orators  were  justly  conscious 
of  the  fact  that  we  had  won  our  independence  from  the 
greatest  power  in  the  world  and  had  become  a  nation. 
Everyone  was  inspired  to  talk  eloquently  about  liberty 
and  as  a  consequence  a  vast  number  of  literary  crimes 
were  committed  in  her  name.  It  was  an  excessively 
oratorical  era.  Whether  the  thought  was  great  or  little 
the  grand  manner  was  imperatively  demanded.  The 
contemporary  accounts  of  the  speeches  of  that  time 
were  as  highly  wrought  as  the  speeches  themselves  and 
one  would  suppose  that  orators  of  the  grade  of  Demos- 
thenes existed  in  every  considerable  village ;  although 
it  will  be  observed  that  they  gradually  diminished  in 
number  as  the  cold  art  of  stenography  became  more 
commonly  and  successfully  practiced.  The  simple  art 
of  speaking  with  reference  to  the  exact  truth  was  held 
in  contempt,  and  the  art  of  extravagant  expression  was 
carefully  cultivated.  It  is  not  difficult  to  detect  in  this 
extravagance  the  influence  of  Edmund  Burke.  He  was 
chiefly  responsible,  however,  only  because  he  stood  in  a 
class  by  himself  and  could  defy  successful  imitation. 
There  is  nothing  more  gorgeous  in  English  literature 
than  the  best  of  his  speeches  or  essays,  for  his  speeches 
and  essays  were  the  same  sort  of  composition.  His 
knowledge  was  varied  and  prodigious  and  even  his  con- 
versation, well  compared  by  Moore  to  a  Roman  triumph, 

126 


was  enriched  with  the  spoils  of  all  learning.     In  depth  Samuel 
and  intensity  of  feeling  and  a  noble  sympathy  for  the  Walket 
oppressed  of  every  race  he  was  surpassed  by  no  orator,  McCall 
ancient  or  modern.     He  had  the  glowing  and  exuber- 
ant imagination  that 

"Kicks  at  earth  with  a  disdainful  heel 
And  beats  at  Heaven  gates  with  her  bright  hoofs." 
Imitation  of  Burke,  thus  royally  endowed  and  blazing 
with  indignation  at  some  great  public  wrong,  would 
easily  lend  itself  to  extravagance  and  produce  the  empty 
form  of  colossal  speech  without  its  substance.  I  think 
Burke's  influence  can  be  clearly  seen  in  our  orators 
from  his  own  day  to  the  end  of  Charles  Sumner's  time. 
A  few  of  Webster's  speeches  show  not  merely  the  in- 
spiration due  to  an  appreciative  understanding  of  Burke, 
which  was  legitimate  and  might  be  wholesome,  but  a 
somewhat  close  and  dispiriting  imitation  of  Burke's  man- 
ner. This  is  true  particularly  of  the  much  admired 
Plymouth  oration,  which  substituted  John  Adams  for 
the  Lord  Bathurst  of  Burke's  celebrated  passage,  and  ex- 
torted from  that  venerable  patriot,  who  had  come  under 
the  spell  of  the  Corinthian  era,  the  statement  that  Burke 
could  no  longer  be  called  the  most  consummate  orator 
of  modern  times.  But  it  is  Webster's  glory  that  at  his 
best  he  had  a  style  that  was  all  his  own,  simple,  mas- 
sive and  full  of  grandeur;  and  compared  with  some  of 
his  noble  passages  Burke's  sublimity  sometimes  seems 
as  unsubstantial  as  banks  of  cloud  by  the  side  of  a  gran- 
ite mountain. 

While  Webster  was  slow  in  reaching  his  full  mental 
stature,  how  rapidly  his  style  developed  and  simplicity 
took  the  place  of  the  flowery  exaggeration  that  was  then 

J27 


Samuel  thought  to  be  fine,  may  be  seen  by  contrasting  passages 
Walker  from  two  of  his  speeches.  In  his  Fourth  of  July  ad- 
McCall  dress  delivered  at  Hanover  a  year  before  his  graduation 
occurs  this  passage  :  "Fair  science,  too,  holds  her  gentle 
empire  among  us,  and  almost  innumerable  altars  are 
raised  to  her  divinity  from  Brunswick  to  Florida.  Yale, 
Providence  and  Harvard  now  grace  our  land,  and  Dart- 
mouth, towering  majestic  above  the  groves  which  en- 
circle her,  now  inscribes  her  glory  on  the  register  of 
fame.  Oxford  and  Cambridge,  those  Oriental  stars  of 
literature,  shall  now  be  lost,  while  the  bright  sun  of 
American  science  displays  his  broad  circumference  in 
uneclipsed  radiance."  The  other  is  from  a  speech 
early  in  his  Congressional  career  against  the  policy  of 
forcing  the  growth  of  manufactures,  or  rearing  them, 
as  he  expressed  it,  u  in  hotbeds."  "  I  am  not  anxious 
to  accelerate  the  approach  of  the  period  when  the  great 
mass  of  American  labor  shall  not  find  its  employment  in 
the  field  ;  when  the  young  men  of  the  country  shall  be 
obliged  to  shut  their  eyes  upon  external  nature,  upon 
the  heavens  and  the  earth,  and  immerse  themselves  in 
close  and  unwholesome  workshops  ;  when  they  shall  be 
obliged  to  shut  their  ears  to  the  bleatings  of  their  own 
flocks  upon  their  own  hills,  and  to  the  voice  of  the  lark 
that  cheers  them  at  the  plough."  The  one  passage  is 
little  above  or  below  the  style  then  prevailing  among 
schoolboys;  the  other  possesses  a  simple  and  lyric  beauty 
and  might  have  been  written  by  a  master  of  English 
prose  in  its  golden  age. 

In  his  speech  upon  the  Greek  revolution,  delivered 
while  he  was  still  a  member  of  the  House,  his  style  may 
be  said  to  have  become  fixed  in  its  simplicity.  Upon 

(28 


such  a  subject  there  was  every  temptation  to  indulge  in  Samuel 
passionate  declamation  about  freedom  and  to  make  a  Walker 
tremendous  display  of  classical  learning,  and  such  a 
treatment  seemed  to  be  demanded  by  the  prevailing 
taste  of  the  time ;  but  the  generous  sympathy  he  held 
out  to  the  Greeks,  he  extended  in  a  speech  of  severe  and 
restrained  beauty  and  the  greater  part  of  his  effort  was 
devoted  to  a  profound  study  of  the  principles  of  the 
Holy  Alliance  as  a  conspiracy  against  popular  freedom. 
Jeremiah  Mason  pronounced  this  speech  the  best  ex- 
ample of  parliamentary  eloquence  and  statesmanlike 
reasoning  which  our  country  had  seen.  The  Plymouth 
speech  greatly  extended  his  reputation  as  an  orator  and 
was  most  impressive  in  its  immediate  effect.  George 
Tickrior,  who  was  disposed  to  be  critical,  and  usually 
admired  with  difficulty,  somewhat  hysterically  wrote  in 
a  letter  on  the  day  of  its  delivery  :  "  I  warn  you  before- 
hand that  I  have  not  the  least  confidence  in  my  own 

opinion.    His  manner  carried  me  away  completely 

It  seems  to  me  incredible I  was  never  so  excited 

by  public  speaking  before  in  my  life.  Three  or  four  times 
I  thought  my  temples  would  burst  with  the  gush  of 
blood."  This  speech  was  received  everywhere  with 
the  most  extravagant  praise  and  may  fairly  be  said  to 
have  established  Webster's  position  as  the  first  orator  of 
the  nation.  While  it  contains  noble  passages  it  some- 
times expresses  the  platitude  of  the  day  in  a  style  that 
suggests  the  grandiose,  and  it  shows  more  strongly  than 
any  other  of  his  important  speeches  the  literary  faults  of 
the  time.  The  first  Bunker  Hill  speech  and  the  eulogy 
on  Adams  and  Jefferson  are  distinctly  superior  to  it. 
That  splendid  piece  of  historical  fiction,  the  speech 

129 


Samuel  which  he  puts  in  the  mouth  of  Adams,  is  an  excellent 
Walker  exhibition  of  his  ability  to  reproduce  the  spirit  of  a  great 
McCall  event  and  endow  it  with  life.  It  was  precisely  such  a 
speech  as  the  most  impassioned  and  strongest  advocate 
of  the  Declaration  of  Independence  might  have  made  on 
the  floor  of  the  Continental  Congress.  If  Webster's  un- 
derstanding had  been  less  powerful  he  would  have  been 
credited  with  a  very  great  imagination.  That  faculty, 
however,  was  strictly  subordinated  to  his  reason  and  in- 
stead of  producing  anything  unusual  and  fantastic,  the 
creature  of  a  disordered  rather  than  a  creative  imagination, 
he  summoned  the  event  out  of  the  past  and  so  invested 
it  with  its  appropriate  coloring,  and  rational  and  proper 
setting,  that  it  seemed  to  be  a  fact  rather  than  a  fancy. 
We  shall  fall  far  short  of  doing  justice  to  his  power 
as  an  orator  if  we  fail  to  take  into  account  his  physical 
endowments  for  speaking.  There  can  be  no  doubt 
about  the  majesty  of  his  personal  presence.  Business 
would  be  temporarily  suspended  when  he  walked  down 
State  Street,  while  people  rushed  to  the  doors  and  win- 
dows to  see  him  pass.  To  the  popular  imagination  he 
seemed  to  take  up  half  the  street.  He  stood  nearly  six 
feet,  and  seemed  taller,  and  he  had  an  enormous  meas- 
urement around  the  chest.  His  head  was  one  of  the 
largest  and  noblest  ever  borne  upon  human  shoulders. 
He  had  a  dark  complexion,  a  gunpowder  complexion  it 
was  called,  a  broad  and  lofty  brow  and  large  black  eyes, 
usually  full  of  repose,  but  in  moments  of  excitement 
blazing  with  terrible  intensity.  One  of  his  severest  crit- 
ics, Theodore  Parker,  declared  his  belief  that  since 
Charlemagne  there  had  not  been  such  a  grand  figure  in 
all  Christendom. 

130 


It  might  be  suspected  that  the  reports  were  some-  Samuel 
what  colored  by  pride  in  such  an  American  product,  but  Walker 
he  went  abroad  and  his  personality  produced  as  deep  an  McCall 
impression  there  as  at  home.  Sydney  Smith  called  him 
"a  steam  engine  in  trousers"  and  "a  small  cathedral  all 
by  himself."  To  Carlyle  he  seemed  a  "magnificent 
specimen."  The  historian  Hallam  wrote  of  him  that 
he  approached  as  "nearly  the  ideal  of  a  Republican  Sen- 
ator as  any  man  he  had  ever  seen,  one  worthy  of  Rome. 
This  enormous  personality  was  not  sluggish  but  in  time 
of  excitement  it  was  full  of  animation  and  dramatic  fire. 
Jeremiah  Mason  said  that  in  him  a  great  actor  was  lost 
to  the  stage.  He  would  rise  easily  to  the  tragic  force 
required  in  a  murder  trial  and  overwhelm  the  listener 
by  his  dramatic  description  of  the  deed,  or  he  would 
entertain  his  college  friends  with  a  perfect  imitation  of 
the  mannerisms  and  falsetto  tones  of  President  Wheel- 
ock.  He  possessed  as  noble  a  voice  as  ever  broke  upon 
the  human  ear — a  voice  of  great  compass,  usually  high 
and  clear,  but  capable  of  sinking  into  deep  tones  that 
thrilled  the  listener.  He  made  himself  heard  by  nearly 
fifty  thousand  people  at  Bunker  Hill.  What  Mr.  Lodge 
says  may  easily  be  believed,  that  no  one  ever  came  into 
the  world  so  physically  equipped  for  speech. 

Undoubtedly  his  oratorical  masterpiece  is  the  reply 
to  Hayne.  When  he  delivered  it  he  was  in  his  physical 
and  intellectual  prime.  The  occasion  was  the  most  im- 
portant in  our  Congressional  history.  The  time  had 
come  when,  if  ever,  the  doctrine  of  the  supremacy  of 
the  federal  constitution  should  be  proclaimed  and  the 
truth  impressed  upon  the  minds  and  hearts  of  the  peo- 
ple that  the  United  States  was  not  a  confederacy,  loosely 

13J 


Samuel  knit  together  and  continuing  in  existence  only  at  the 
Walker  pleasure  of  each  one  of  the  sovereign  states  which  com- 
McCall  posed  it,  but  that  it  was  a  nation,  and  that  its  laws,  en- 
acted in  conformity  with  the  constitution,  as  declared 
by  the  Supreme  Court,  were  the  supreme  law  of  the 
land.  This  great  argument  over  the  meaning  of  the 
constitution  had  begun  almost  on  the  day  when  it  was 
put  in  operation.  The  states-rights  school  of  interpre- 
tation found  much  to  support  it  in  the  construction  put 
upon  the  constitution  by  those  who  had  borne  an  impor- 
tant part  in  framing  it.  It  had  been  steadily  growing 
and  its  doctrines  had  reached  their  full  development. 
The  term  "sovereign  state"  was  a  very  attractive  one  to 
the  popular  mind  and  demanded  a  proper  limitation  up- 
on its  meaning.  Hayne,  too,  spoke  for  a  state  which 
was  about  to  attempt  to  put  his  theory  into  practical 
force.  That  theory  had  never  received  so  captivating 
a  presentation  as  he  gave  it.  The  work  of  formulating 
the  creed  of  union  so  that  it  might  become  a  popular 
force  and  not  merely  check  the  further  advance  of  the 
doctrines  of  nullification,  but  put  them  on  the  defensive 
and  turn  them  upon  a  retreat,  naturally  fell  to  Webster. 
Calhoun,  with  his  great  industry,  his  high  personal 
character  and  his  enormous  power  of  logic  was  the  lead- 
ing advocate  of  states-rights.  Clay  did  not  at  that  time 
happen  to  be  a  member  of  the  Senate.  But  Clay,  who 
was  a  great  party  leader,  a  masterful  debater  and  an  im- 
passioned orator,  did  not  possess  the  legal  training  and 
the  grasp  upon  principles  which  the  occasion  demanded, 
and  orator  as  he  was,  he  did  not  possess  the  choice  gift 
of  uttering  the  literature  of  genuine  eloquence,  of  speak- 
ing the  words  that  should  wing  their  flight  to  the  fire- 

J32 


side  of  the  farmer  and  artisan  and  to  the  study  of  the  Samuel 
scholar,  and  set  their  hearts  on  fire  for  the  Union.  The  Walker 
one  man  for  the  work  was  the  man  to  whom  it  fell.  McCall 

With  much  that  was  strong  and  brilliant  in 
Hayne's  speech,  there  was  a  great  deal  that  was  paltry 
and  personal  and  had  no  place  in  a  great  constitutional 
argument.  There  was  an  ingenious  attempt  to  set  one 
section  of  the  Union  against  the  other.  New  England 
was  held  up  to  ridicule.  Hayne  imitated  Homer's  he- 
roes who  began  their  fights  with  taunts  and  boasts.  A 
personal  attack  was  made  upon  Webster  and  he  was 
taunted  with  fearing  that  Benton  might  be  an  overmatch 
for  him  in  debate.  I  am  not  sure  that  this  did  not 
greatly  add  to  the  interest  of  the  reply.  It  introduced 
the  personal,  human  element,  and  served  to  call  Web- 
ster's great  combative  powers  fully  into  play.  One  can 
imagine  this  Titan  with  his  whole  nature  aroused,  thor- 
oughly informed  upon  his  great  subject,  profoundly  im- 
pressed with  the  justice  of  his  cause,  but  unhampered  by 
any  written  speech,  rising  in  the  Senate  and  for  nearly 
seven  hours  pouring  forth  that  mighty  torrent  of  argu- 
ment, fact,  irony  and  eloquence  found  in  the  reply.  To 
say  that  the  speech  fully  met  the  occasion  is  to  give  it 
the  highest  possible  praise.  The  advantage  was  with 
"Webster  upon  every  point.  When  he  took  his  seat  he 
had  triumphantly  vindicated  New  England,  he  had 
crushed  his  antagonist  in  the  personal  controversy,  al- 
though with  a  majestic  scorn  he  had  barely  stooped  to 
engage  in  it,  and,  far  more  important  than  anything 
else,  he  had  reduced  the  doctrine  of  nullification  to  an 
absurdity,  by  demonstrating  that  its  application  would 
mean  the  disruption  of  the  central  government,  would 

J33 


Samuel  make  the  Union  a  mere  ' '  rope  of  sand  ' '  and  organize 
Walker  governmental  chaos  into  a  system.  In  that  portion  of 
McCall  hjs  speech  he  did  as  much  to  create  as  to  expound  the 
constitution,  and  he  held  up  to  the  country  the  image  of 
a  government  limited,  indeed,  in  its  powers,  but  in  its 
sphere  perfect,  and  beyond  the  control  of  the  state  gov- 
ernment. Among  the  many  ties  that  bind  men  to- 
gether there  is  no  stronger  tie  than  the  spirit  of  nation- 
ality. It  was  to  that  spirit  that  he  so  fervently  appealed 
in  that  splendid  piece  of  rhetoric  in  the  printed  perora- 
tion of  the  speech,  a  peroration  not  indeed  spoken  in  all 
its  important  parts  to  the  few  scores  of  people  in  the 
Senate  chamber,  but  spoken  to  the  millions  of  his  coun- 
trymen outside  of  it. 

It  was  this  speech  more  than  any  other  single  event 
from  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution  to  the  Civil  War, 
which  compacted  the  states  into  a  nation.  There  were 
apparently  few  people  in  the  country  able  to  read  and  to 
follow  public  affairs  who  did  not  read  the  more  impor- 
tant portions  of  it.  The  leading  newspapers  published 
it  in  full.  Vast  numbers  of  copies  were  sent  out  in  the 
form  of  pamphlets.  It  was  declaimed  by  schoolboys  in 
every  schoolhouse.  It  gave  the  nation  a  definite  im- 
pulse towards  nationality  and  it  laid  down  the  battle 
line  for  those  great  armies  which  fought  and  triumphed 
in  the  cause  of  the  Union. 

The  speech  in  itself  is  worthy  of  the  enormous  part 
it  has  played  in  history.  It  was  unstudied  and  sponta- 
neous and  it  displayed  in  a  sublime  degree  that  fusion  of 
reason  and  passion  which  Macaulay  pronounces  neces- 
sary to  true  eloquence.  It  is  energetic,  direct,  simple, 
and  it  has  that  rapidity  of  movement  which  is  the  first 

J34 


test  of  intellectual  vigor.  It  probably  received  less  re-  Samuel 
vision  than  speeches  at  that  time  usually  received  and  I  Walker 
believe  that  no  great  speech  of  similar  length  which  oc-  McCall 
cupies  a  place  near  it  in  literature  was  ever  the  object  of 
less  verbal  polishing  before  and  after  delivery.  It  was 
extemporaneous,  and  if  we  bear  in  mind  that  the  art  of 
shorthand  writing  was  at  that  time  by  no  means  per- 
fectly developed,  the  stenographer's  report  shows  that 
the  form  was  not  greatly  changed  except  in  a  few  pas- 
sages. The  printed  peroration  has  been  pronounced  by 
good  judges,  and  I  think  rightly,  artificial.  It  is  hard- 
ly conceivable  that  after  speaking  more  than  six  hours 
his  extemporaneous  speech  should  have  taken  that  fin- 
ished and  balanced  form.  That  there  was  little  of  the 
artificial  in  the  spoken  peroration  is  made  evident  from 
the  shorthand  report: 

"While  the  nation  lasts,  we  have  a  great  prospect 
of  prosperity;  and,  when  this  Union  breaks  up,  there  is 
nothing  in  prospect  for  us  to  look  at,  but  what  I  regard 
with  horror  and  despair.  God  forbid  ;  yes  sir,  God  for- 
bid, that  I  should  live  to  see  this  cord  broken ;  to  be- 
hold the  state  of  things  which  carries  us  back  to  dis- 
union, calamity  and  civil  war !  When  my  eyes  shall 
be  turned  for  the  last  time  on  the  meridian  sun,  I  hope 
I  may  see  him  shining  bright,  upon  my  united,  free  and 
happy  country.  I  hope  I  shall  not  live  to  see  his  beams 
falling  upon  the  dispersed  fragments  of  the  structure  of 
this  once  glorious  Union.  I  hope  I  may  not  see  the  flag 
of  my  country,  with  its  stars  separated  or  obliterated, 
torn  by  commotion,  smoking  with  the  blood  of  civil 
war.  I  hope  I  may  not  see  the  standard  raised  of  sep- 
arate state  rights,  star  against  star  and  stripe  against 

135 


Samuel  stripe;  but  that  the  flag  of  the  Union  may  keep  its  stars 
Walker  and  its  stripes  corded  and  bound  together  in  indissoluble 
McCall  ties.     I  hope  I  shall  not  see  written,  as  its  motto,  First 
Liberty,  and  then  Union.     I  hope  I  shall  see  no  such  de- 
lusive and  deluded  motto  on  the  flag  of  that  country.     I 
hope  to  see  spread  all  over  it,  blazoned  in  letters  of  light, 
and  proudly  floating  over  land  and  sea,  that  other  senti- 
ment, dear  to  my  heart,  '  Union  and  Liberty,  now  and 
forever,  one  and  inseparable.'  " 

As  a  piece  of  composition  the  printed  form  is  doubt- 
less the  better  one,  but  as  the  conclusion  of  a  great  speech 
in  which  a  powerful  mind  under  great  excitement  sought 
at  the  moment  its  appropriate  form  of  expression  it 
seems  to  me  the  spoken  peroration  is  to  be  preferred. 
Instead  of  moving  along  upon  symmetrical  lines,  beauti- 
ful and  majestic,  throwing  the  spray  evenly  upon  either 
side,  like  a  painted  ship  upon  a  painted  ocean,  we  see 
him  rather  like  a  mighty  battleship  plunging  madly 
through  the  waves,  dashing  the  spray  above  its  turrets, 
with  engines  throbbing  irregularly  and  hard,  the  incar- 
nation of  terrible  power  mastering  the  power  of  the  sea. 
While  the  reply  to  Hayne  shows  Webster  on  the 
whole  at  his  best,  some  of  his  great  qualities  were  more 
conspicuously  displayed  in  other  speeches.  In  the  de- 
bate with  Calhoun  three  years  afterwards,  he  made  an 
argument  against  nullification  which  was  more  complete 
and  elaborately  wrought  out,  and  which  dealt  that  doc- 
trine a  finishing  blow  so  far  as  any  constitutional  basis 
was  concerned.  But  it  was  severely  argumentative  and 
did  not  have  the  popular  qualities  of  his  first  great 
Union  speech.  His  7th  of  March  speech,  famous  for 
other  reasons  than  its  rhetoric,  is  conversational  in  tone, 

J36 


rising  naturally  to  the  heights  of  eloquence,  and  in  its  Samuel 
speaking  style  it  appears  to  me  to  be  the  equal  of  the  Walker 
best  of  his  speeches.  It  lacked  any  degree  of  the  hard  McCall 
rhetorical  form  at  that  time  deemed  necessary  to  good 
oratory,  and  which  imparted  to  much  of  it,  compared 
with  the  more  direct  modern  method,  the  appearance  of 
an  unknown  tongue.  The  speech  on  the  presidential 
protest  is  more  studied  than  the  reply  to  Hayne,  and  in 
it  his  imagination  mounts  on  an  easy  wing  in  the  cele- 
brated passage  on  the  military  greatness  of  England.  If 
any  of  the  orators  of  that  nation  has  ever  given  a  nobler 
picture  of  her  power  I  do  not  know  where  it  can  be 
found  :  u  On  this  question  of  principle,  while  actual  suf- 
fering was  yet  afar  off,  they  raised  their  flag  against  a 
power,  to  which,  for  purposes  of  foreign  conquest  and 
subjugation,  Rome,  in  the  height  of  her  glory,  is  not  to 
be  compared;  a  power  which  has  dotted  over  the  surface 
of  the  whole  globe  with  her  possessions  and  military 
posts,  whose  morning  drum-beat,  following  the  sun  and 
keeping  company  with  the  hours,  circles  the  earth  with 
one  continuous  and  unbroken  strain  of  the  martial  airs 
of  England." 

What  is  the  relative  position  of  Webster  among  the 
great  orators  of  the  world  ?  All  would  not  agree  upon 
his  exact  place,  although  all  would  doubtless  place  him 
very  high  among  them.  The  two  great  orators  of  an- 
cient times  must,  I  think,  be  left  out  of  the  account. 
There  is  little  more  common  ground  for  a  comparison 
between  Webster  and  Demosthenes  than  there  would  be 
for  a  comparison  between  a  speech  of  Webster  and  a 
book  of  Homer.  What  common  standard  can  be  set  up 
between  the  Greek  who  spoke  to  a  fickle  and  inarvel- 

J37 


Samuel  ously  ingenious  people,  whose  verdict  when  he  obtained 
Walker  it  would  often  only  be  written  on  water,  and  Web- 
McCallster,  speaking  in  a  different  tongue,  to  an  altogether  dif- 
ferent people,  and  shaping  in  their  minds  the  principles 
of  practical  government  to  endure  for  generations  ? 
How  many  English-speaking  people  know  enough 
Greek  to  understand  a  speech  of  Demosthenes  as  they 
would  one  spoken  in  their  own  language  ?  Those  who 
do  not  cannot  form  an  exact  judgment,  and  the  few,  if 
any,  who  do,  are  prone  to  find  virtues  in  particles  and, 
like  Shakspeare's  critics,  to  bring  to  view  in  the  text 
things  of  which  the  orator  was  abjectly  ignorant.  Too 
much  has  been  swept  away  in  the  twenty  centuries  since 
Cicero  and  Demosthenes  spoke,  and  it  is  easy  to  praise 
those  orators  too  little  or  too  much.  Separated  from  us 
by  the  barriers  of  distance,  of  language  and  of  race,  the 
most  that  can  safely  be  ventured  is  that  in  literary  form 
they  probably  surpassed  any  of  the  moderns. 

The  orators  with  whom  Webster  can  most  profita- 
bly be  compared  are  those  who  employed  the  same  lan- 
guage and  spoke  to  the  same  race.  Surely  it  is  not  a 
narrow  field.  It  is  a  race  that  has  employed  the  art  of 
government  by  speaking  for  centuries,  and  has  far  out- 
stripped any  other  people  of  ancient  or  modern  times  in 
the  development  of  the  parliamentary  system.  The  re- 
sult of  that  system  has  been  to  produce  oratory  which 
is  not  simply  literature  nor  merely  spectacular,  but 
which  at  its  best  is  especially  adapted  to  the  practical 
purpose  of  influencing  the  judgment  of  those  who  listen 
upon  some  momentous  public  question.  Where,  as  is 
the  case  among  the  English-speaking  peoples,  the  fate 
of  a  government  or  an  administration  often  turns  upon 

138 


the  result  of  a  single  debate,  where  again  the  verdict  of  Samuel 
the  parliamentary  body  is  liable  to  be  set  aside  by  the  Walker 
people  who  are  the  sources  of  political  power  and  before  McCall 
whom  the  discussion  must  be  ultimately  carried,  there 
is  a  field  for  the  development  of  oratory  such  as  has 
never  existed  in  any  other  race.  Among  the  orators  of 
his  own  country  there  may  be  individuals  who  in  some 
particulars  surpass  him.  Everett  carried  the  elaborate 
oratory  at  that  time  in  vogue  to  a  greater  perfection  of 
finish  and  form.  Webster  does  not  show  the  surprises 
and  felicities  to  be  found  in  the  style  of  Choate,  who  is 
as  rapid,  pure  and  winding  as  a  mountain  stream,  and 
who  in  brilliancy  of  imagination  easily  outranks  all 
other  American  orators.  The  only  Englishmen  who 
stand  in  a  class  with  Webster  are  Fox  and  Burke.  In 
comparing  him  with  them  it  must  be  borne  in  mind 
that  his  most  important  speeches  were  made  in  constru- 
ing the  terms  of  a  written  constitution  which,  however 
beneficial  it  may  be  to  individual  liberty,  is  not  a  nurse 
of  political  eloquence.  It  imposes  rigid  artificial  limits, 
and,  to  the  extent  that  it  requires  statesmen  to  be  the 
expounders  of  written  political  scriptures  rather  than  of 
broad  natural  principles,  it  hampers  the  freedom  of  the 
mind. 

Rogers  said  that  he  never  heard  anything  equal  to 
Fox's  speeches  in  reply,  and  Burke  with  generous  en- 
thusiasm called  him  the  most  brilliant  debater  the  world 
ever  saw.  That  was  Webster's  great  quality.  He  was 
pre-eminently  a  debater.  He  did  not  have  Fox's  celerity, 
but  he  possessed  far  greater  weight.  Fox  would  lay 
down  a  proposition  and  repeat  it  again  and  again.  He 
was  often  stormy  in  manner  and  would  sometimes  mag- 


Samuel  nify  trifles.  His  vehemence  was  so  great  that  one 
Walker  occasionally  suspects  him  of  diverting  attention  from 
McCall  the  weakness  of  an  argument.  But  he  had  no  affec- 
tations. He  was  animated  by  noble  ideas  of  political 
freedom  which  comprehended  not  merely  his  own  race 
or  neighborhood,  but  embraced  the  peoples  of  distant 
lands;  and  regardless  of  literary  form  he  would  press 
those  ideas  home  and  strike  by  the  most  direct  lines  at 
the  judgment  of  the  listener.  There  was  little  quick- 
ness or  mere  dexterity  about  Webster,  but  it  seemed  im- 
possible to  impose  upon  his  understanding,  and  his 
great  guns  would  open  upon  the  weak  points  of  his  ad- 
versary, however  artfully  covered  up.  No  man  could 
excel  him  in  the  power  to  destroy  utterly  the  sham 
structures  of  sophistry.  He  would  never  set  up  a  man 
of  straw,  but  would  resolutely  grapple  with  his  oppo- 
nent's argument  in  its  full  force.  His  vigilance  was 
extraordinary,  and  when  surprised,  as  he  sometimes  was 
in  running  debate,  it  is  not  difficult  to  detect  in  his 
tone  the  martial  note,  as  he  rushes  upon  and  captures 
the  threatening  position  by  a  display  of  force  simply 
portentous.  It  is  not  easy  to  compare  Webster  and 
Fox  in  the  immediate  effect  produced  by  their  speeches, 
but  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  personality  of  the 
former  was  more  impressive;  and  if  we  are  to  trust  at  all 
to  the  contemporary  accounts  it  is  entirely  safe  to  say 
that  Fox  never  surpassed,  if  indeed  he  ever  equalled, 
the  tremendous  effect  produced  by  Webster  in  his  great- 
est efforts.  Between  the  speeches  of  the  two  men  there 
can  be  no  comparison  in  point  of  substance  and  literary 
form.  Fox's  speeches  certainly  contain  one  character- 
istic that  he  claimed  was  essential  to  good  speeches, 

140 


they  do  not  read  well.     It  is  not  difficult  to  see  in  the  Samuel 
best  of  them  the  evidence  of  his  brilliant  talents,   but  Walker 
they  do  not  strongly  impress  one  with  weight  of  matter  McCall 
or  with  the  literary  quality.      In   the  half  dozen  large 
volumes  of  Webster's  speeches  which   have   been   col- 
lected together  there  is  doubtless  a  great  deal  that  is 
prosy.     An  orator  who  speaks  often  and  always  makes 
an  eloquent  speech  is  usually  one  who  will  never  make 
a  great  one.       Only  on  exceptional  occasions  was  Web- 
ster thoroughly  aroused.     But  those  volumes  contain  a 
mine  of  information  and  of  reason  for  political  students; 
they  contain  much  literature  of   the   first   rank   and    1 
doubt  if  in  all  of  them  a  sentence  can  be  found  that  is 
flippant  or  petty  or  mean. 

I  have  already  spoken  of  Burke.  He  is,  I  think, 
superior  to  Webster  as  a  political  philosopher,  and  also 
in  breadth  of  information  and  imaginative  power,  but 
in  the  excellence  of  the  great  mass  of  oratorical  work 
which  he  left  behind  him  he  does  not  much  surpass 
Webster,  if  at  all.  He  presents  more  gorgeous  pas- 
sages, but  even  his  most  glittering  fabrics  do  not  imply 
the  intellectual  strength  shown  in  the  simple^  solidity  of 
Webster.  But  if  it  be  admitted  that  he  precedes  Web- 
ster in  the  permanent  value  of  his  speeches,  in  their  tem- 
porary effect  I  do  not  think  he  can  be  classed  with  him. 
He  often  shot  over  the  heads  of  his  audience,  and  some 
of  his  greatest  speeches  emptied  the  House  of  Commons. 
It  was  said  of  him  that  he  always  seemed  to  be  in  a 
passion.  Webster  never  permitted  himself  to  be  in  a 
frenzy,  fine  or  otherwise.  On  the  whole  I  think  it  safe 
to  say  that  Webster  is  not  surpassed  by  Burke,  and  if 


141 


Samuel  he  is  equalled  by  any  other  English-speaking  orator  he 

Walker  is  equalled  by  Burke  alone. 

McCall  But  whether  or  not  Webster  was  the  greatest  of  all 
men  in  power  of  speech,  he  deserves  a  place  among  the 
half  dozen  greatest  orators  of  the  world.  To  take  rank 
in  that  chosen  circle  is  indeed  glory.  For  the  tran- 
scendently  great  orator,  who  has  kindled  his  own  time 
and  nation  to  action  and  who  also  speaks  to  foreign 
nations  and  distant  ages,  must  divide  with  great  poets  the 
affectionate  homage  of  mankind.  While  the  stirring 
history  of  the  Greek  people  and  its  noble  literature  shall 
continue  to  have  charm  and  interest  for  men,  the  won- 
derfully chiselled  periods  of  Demosthenes  and  the  sim- 
ple yet  lofty  speech  of  Pericles  will  be  no  less  immortal 
than  the  odes  of  Pindar  or  the  tragedies  of  Sophocles  or 
Aeschylus.  The  light  that  glows  upon  the  pages  of 
Virgil  shines  with  no  brighter  radiance  than  is  seen  in 
those  glorious  speeches  with  which  Cicero  moved  that 
imperial  race  that  dominated  the  world.  The  glowing 
oratory  of  Edmund  Burke  will  live  until  sensibility  to 
beauty  and  the  generous  love  of  liberty  shall  die.  And 
I  believe  the  words  of  Webster,  nobly  voicing  the  possi- 
bilities of  a  mighty  nation  as  yet  only  dimly  conscious 
of  its  destiny,  will  continue  to  roll  upon  the  ears  of  men 
while  the  nation  he  helped  to  fashion  shall  endure,  or 
indeed  while  government  founded  upon  popular  free- 
dom shall  remain  an  instrument  of  civilization. 

It  is  sometimes  said  of  Webster  that  as  a  statesman 
he  was  not  creative  and  that  no  great  legislative  acts 
are  identified  with  his  name;  that  he  was  the  unrivalled 
advocate  of  policies  but  not  their  originator.  It  must 
be  remembered  that  during  most  of  his  Congressional 

142 


career  his  party  was  in  a  minority  and  he  had  only  a  Samuel 
limited  opportunity  to  fashion  political  legislation.  He  "Walker 
did  not,  it  is  true,  pass  any  considerable  portion  of  his  McCall 
time  in  drawing  bills,  embodying  more  or  less  fanciful 
theories  of  government.  But  he  displayed  in  a  promi- 
nent degree  the  qualities  of  statesmanship  most  loudly 
called  for  by  his  time.  He  was  highly  successful  in 
adapting  to  the  needs  of  a  nation  the  provisions  of  a 
written  constitution,  by  applying  to  its  construction  the 
soundest  principles  of  government.  It  was  beyond 
human  foresight  for  the  framers  of  the  Constitution  to 
comprehend  the  unknown  demands  of  the  future.  The 
application  of  that  frame  of  government  to  new  needs 
and  conditions  demanded  as  high  and  as  original  an 
order  of  statesmanship  as  was  required  in  the  first  in- 
stance to  write  it.  It  might  easily  have  supported  a 
greatly  different  structure  of  government  if  it  had  been 
less  wisely  expounded.  If  our  highest  court  has  been 
able  to  recognize  supposed  national  exigencies  and  ap- 
ply contradictory  judicial  constructions  to  the  same 
clause  of  the  Constitution,  we  can  easily  see  that  it 
might  indeed  be  a  flexible  instrument  in  the  hands  of 
statesmen  whose  prime  function  is  political  and  not 
judicial.  But  there  was  no  paltry  expediency  in  Web- 
ster's expounding.  His  recognition  of  sound  princi- 
ples, his  profound  sympathy  with  the  genius  of  our  sys- 
tem, and  his  true  political  sense  enabled  him  to  display 
the  most  difficult  art  of  statesmanship,  the  practical  ap- 
plication of  theory  to  the  government  of  a  nation.  The 
principles  of  government  are  derived  from  a  long  series 
of  experiments,  and  the  statesman  who  produces  some- 
thing novel  produces  something  which  experience  will 

H3 


Samuel  usually  show  it  is  well  to  avoid.  Originality  of  states- 
Walker  manship  does  not  alone  consist  in  bringing  forth  some- 
McCall  thing  unheard  of  in  government,  or  in  keeping  on  hand, 
as  Sieyes  was  said  to  have  done,  a  large  assortment  of 
constitutions  ready  made.  Neither  can  I  see  originali- 
ty or  even  a  high  order  of  statesmanship  in  patching  up 
a  truce  by  some  temporary  device,  which,  after  it  shall 
have  lost  its  effect,  will  leave  the  body  politic  in  a  worse 
condition  than  when  it  found  it.  Webster  aided  in 
making  the  Constitution  work  among  conditions  that 
its  founders  did  not  foresee.  He  contributed  to  protect 
it  from  danger,  against  which  they  made  no  provisions 
and  to  endow  it  with  perpetuity.  His  adherence  to 
sound  principles  was  as  resolute  as  his  recognition  of 
them  was  instinctive.  He  would  not  be  swerved  from 
them  by  considerations  of  temporary  expediency.  This 
unbending  quality  and  an  indisposition  to  appeal  to  a 
pseudo-patriotism  prevented  him  in  the  conditions  then 
existiifg  from  becoming  a  great  party  leader,  and  in  that 
respect  he  strikingly  resembled  Fox.  After  a  career  un- 
exampled among  statesmen,  in  its  constant  treatment 
of  liberty  as  a  birthright  of  all  men  and  not  as  a  peculiar 
prerogative  of  Englishmen,  it  was  said  of  Fox's  follow- 
ing in  Parliament  that  they  could  all  be  put  in  a  hack- 
ney coach.  The  reason  is  obvious.  The  British  Par- 
liament has  usually  been  jealous  for  British  freedom, 
but  when  British  demands  come  in  conflict  with  the 
freedom  of  foreign  peoples,  liberty  then  becomes  a  much 
less  influential  sentiment  than  what  on  such  occasions 
is  sometimes  termed  humanity  and  sometimes  civiliza- 
tion. 

Let  us  follow  Webster's  course  upon  some  of  the 

(44 


more  important  issues  of  his  time  in  order  to  gain  a  Samuel 
practical  insight  into  his  statesmanship.  He  was  a  Walker 
friend  of  commerce,  which,  he  declared,  had  paid  the  McCall 
price  of  independence,  and  he  was  in  favor  of  encourag- 
ing it  both  with  foreign  nations  and  between  the  states 
themselves.  He  was,  therefore,  strenuously  opposed  to 
the  embargo  which  preceded  and  attended  the  war  with 
Great  Britain.  He  was  so  hostile  to  the  war  itself 
that  he  refused  to  vote  supplies  to  carry  it  on.  Even 
that  much  quoted  passage,  so  frequently  employed 
against  those  who  would  question  proposed  aggressions 
upon  other  peoples,  "our  party  divisions,  acrimonious 
as  they  are,  cease  at  the  water's  edge"  was  uttered  by 
him  in  a  speech  against  a  bill  to  encourage  enlist- 
ment. He  was  opposed  to  the  war  because  he  thought 
it  inexpedient  and  wrong.  The  question  of  peace  or 
war  he  declared  was  "not  to  be  compressed  into  the 
compass  that  would  fit  a  small  litigation."  It  was  a 
great  question  of  right  and  expediency.  "  Considera- 
tions which  go  back  to  the  origin  of  our  institutions  and 
other  considerations  which  look  forward  to  our  hopeful 
progress  in  future  times,  all  belong,  in  their  just  pro- 
portions and  graduations,  to  a  question  in  the  determi- 
nation of  which  the  happiness  of  the  present  and  of  fu- 
ture generations  may  be  so  much  concerned.  Utterly 
astonished  at  the  declaration  of  war,  I  have  been  sur- 
prised at  nothing  since.  Unless  all  history  deceived 
me,  I  saw  how  it  would  be  prosecuted  when  I  saw  how 
it  was  begun.  There  is  in  the  nature  of  things  an  un- 
changeable relation  between  rash  counsels  and  feeble 
execution."  The  struggle  itself,  whether  just  or  unjust 
at  its  inception,  became  almost  a  war  of  self-preserva- 

145 


Samuel  tion,  and  Webster's  attitude  was  an  extreme  one  in  re- 
Walker  fusing  to  vote  the  necessary  means  to  carry  it  on.     At  a 
McCall  much  later  period  of  his  life  he  voted  for  supplies  for 
the  war  with  Mexico,  to  which  he  had  also  been  op- 
posed.      But  his  position  was  unassailable  when  during 
the  war  of  1812  he  declined  to  be  badgered  out  of  the 
right  of  public  discussion,  for  he  did  not  escape  the  fury 
of  the  small  patriots  of  his  time.     "  It  is,"  he  said,   "  a 

home-bred  right,  a  fireside  privilege It  is  not 

.  to  be  drawn  in  controversy Belonging  to  pri- 
vate life  as  a  right,  it  belongs  to  public  life  as  a  duty. 
This  high  constitutional  privilege  I  shall  de- 
fend and  exercise  within  this  House  and  without  this 
House,  and  in  all  places,  in  time  of  peace,  in  time  of 
war. ' ' 

r*-  His  earlier  speeches  in  Congress  on  the  tariff  were 
upon  free  trade  lines  and  against  the  exercise  of  the 
taxing  power  of  the  Constitution  for  the  purpose  of  pro- 
tection. During  his  term  of  service  in  the  House  he 
voted  against  tariff  bills  that  were  protective  in  their  na- 
ture, but  after  he  became  a  member  of  the  Senate  he 
voted  for  such  bills,  and  he  has  often  been  accused  of 
inconsistency  on  account  of  these  apparently  contra- 
dictory votes.  But  his  answer  was  simple  and  appar- 
ently conclusive.  He  had  opposed  the  policy  of  arti- 
ficially calling  manufactures  into  being,  but  it  had  been 
adopted.  New  England  had  acquiesced  in  a  system 
which  had  been  forced  upon  her  against  the  votes  of  her 
representatives.  Manufactures  had  been  built  up  and 
he  would  not  vote  to  strike  them  down. 

During  the  early  years  of  his  service  in  the  House 
he  began  his  advocacy  of  a  sound  money  system  and  he 

H6 


continued    to   support    it,    while  the  currency  was  an  Samuel 
issue,  to  the  end  of  his  career.     The  delusive  arguments  Walker 
in  favor  of  a  money  which  the  art  of  printing  made  McCall 
cheap  of  production  did  not  impose  upon  him.     No  man 
of  his  time  set  forth  more  clearly  the  principles  of  a 
sound  system  of  finance  or  the  disaster  which  would  fol- 
low a  deviation  from  it.     He  had  been  so  conspicuous 
in  the  debates  upon  financial  measures  that  President 
Harrison  requested  him  to  accept  the  Secretaryship  of 
the  Treasury  at  the  time  he  became  Secretary  of  State.      , 

He  was  too  firm  a  friend  of  civil  justice  not  to  make 
an  indignant  protest  against  the  bill  proposing  to  take 
the  trial  of  certain  cases  of  treason  from  the  courts  and 
give  them  to  military  tribunals. 

The  Force  bill  of  1833,  which  gave  Jackson  the  au- 
thority to  cope  with  the  nullification  movement  in  South 
Carolina,  would  probably  have  failed  of  passage  without 
Webster's  support.  That  measure,  however,  became  of 
little  consequence  after  the  substantial  concession  to 
that  state  made  in  the  tariff  propositions  brought  for- 
ward by  Mr.  Clay,  who  was  usually  ready  to  apply  tem- 
porary devices  to  any  threatening  situation.  Webster 
austerely  declined  to  surrender  to  the  threats  of  South 
Carolina  and  voted  against  the  tariff  bill. 

He  jealously  upheld  the  prerogatives  of  the  Senate 
and  resolutely  severed  the  growing  friendship  between 
himself  and  Jackson,  when  the  latter  showed  a  dispo- 
sition towards  personal  government  and  an  autocratic 
administration  of  the  laws.  But  first  of  all  he  was  at- 
tached to  the  principles  of  popular  government,  and 
while  a  Senator  he  favored  a  broad  construction  of  the 
power  which  the  Constitution  gave  to  the  representa- 

J47 


Samuel  lives  to  originate  revenue  bills.  In  a  running  debate  in 
Walker  the  Senate  lie  took  the  position  that  territories  were  not 
McCall  a  part  of  the  United  States,  within  the  meaning  of  the 
Constitution,  and  he  referred  for  authority  to  a  class  of 
decisions  of  the  Supreme  Court.  It  so  happened  that 
the  court  had  decided  but  a  single  case  of  the  class  he 
mentioned,  and  that  he  himself  had  been  of  counsel.  It 
showed  his  remarkable  memory  and  command  of  his  re- 
sources that  thirty  years  afterwards  he  was  able,  appar- 
ently upon  the  spur  of  the  moment,  to  urge  in  all  its 
force  the  argument  he  had  prepared  in  the  law  case. 
The  court,  however,  although  it  had  decided  the  case  in 
his  favor,  had  not  put  its  decision  upon  the  ground  he 
urged.  In  the  same  debate  in  the  Senate  he  made  it 
clear,  whatever  he  may  have  meant  in  claiming  that  the 
Constitution  did  not  extend  to  the  territories,  that  the 
oath  of  members  of  Congress  bound  them  to  observe  its 
limitations  even  when  legislating  for  the  territories, 
which  is  an  essential  point  in  the  great  controversy  in 
which  he  has  recently  been  so  often  cited  as  an  author- 
ity. So  far  from  admitting  that  a  denial  of  Congression- 
al absolutism  in  dealing  with  human  rights  anywhere 
would  make  our  government  an  incomplete  or  crippled 
government,  he  saw  in  tendencies  of  an  opposite  char- 
acter the  danger  that  our  constitution  would  be  con- 
verted "  into  a  deformed  monster,"  into  a  great  "  frame 
of  unequal  government"  and  "into  a  curse  rather  than 
a  blessing. ' '  He  also  gave  weighty  expression  to  the 
opinion  that  while  arbitrary  governments  could  govern 
distant  possessions  by  different  laws  and  different  sys- 
tems we  could  do  no  such  thing.  He  protested  against 
the  policy  of  admitting  new  and  small  states  into  the 

H8 


Union,  because  of  its  tendency  to  destroy  the  balance  Samuel 
established  by  the  Constitution  and  convert  the  Senate  Walker 
into  an  oligarchy,  a  policy  which  has  been  pursued  tin-  McCall 
til  at  last  states  having  less  than  a  sixth  of  the  popula- 
tion of  the  country  elect  a  majority  of  the  entire  Senate. 
He  took  a  leading  part  in  the  codification  of  the  crimi- 
nal laws  of  the  nation  and  in  the  enlargement  of  its  ju- 
dicial system.  He  profoundly  deplored  the  existence  of 
slavery  and  many  striking  utterances  against  it  may  be 
found  in  his  speeches,  but  he  held  to  the  opinion,  which, 
indeed,  appears  to  have  prevailed  everywhere  at  that 
time,  that  the  national  government  had  no  authority 
under  the  Constitution  to  interfere  with  slavery  in  the 
states  where  it  was  established.  He  believed  that  the 
non-political  offices  of  the  government  should  not  be 
used  as  party  spoils,  and  a  generation  before  civil  service 
reform  made  its  appearance  on  this  continent  he  gave  « 

luminous  expression  to  its  most  essential  principles. 
His  public  career  was  singularly  free  from  demagoguery 
and  his  speeches  will  be  explored  in  vain  for  catch- 
penny appeals  to  the  passing  popular  fancy.  One  of  the 
great  achievements  of  his  career,  as  well  as  one  of  the 
most  definite  and  honorable  triumphs  of  American 
diplomacy,  is  found  in  the  negotiation  of  the  Webster- 
Ashburton  treaty.  The  dispute  over  the  Northeastern 
boundary  had  for  years  been  a  source  of  irritation  be- 
tween this  country  and  Great  Britain  and  had  baffled 
such  earnest  attempts  at  solution  that  it  promised  to 
continue  a  menace  to  the  peace  of  the  two  nations.  It 
had  defied  the  good  offices  of  arbitration.  It  was 
complicated  with  domestic  difficulties  and  the  American 
negotiations  had  been  hampered  by  the  rights  of  one  of 

H9 


Samuel  the  states  of  the  Union.  The  British  government  had 
Walker  finally  dispatched  a  large  number  of  soldiers  to  Canada, 
McCall  an(j  our  minister  at  London  expressed  the  opinion  that 
war  appeared  inevitable.  There  were  also  other  annoy- 
ing sources  of  dispute  aside  from  that  relating  to  the 
boundary.  Webster  triumphantly  overcame  all  obsta- 
cles, and  he  could  proudly  appeal,  as  he  subsequently 
did  in  the  Senate,  "to  the  public  men  of  the  age 
whether,  in  1842;  and  in  the  city  of  Washington,  some- 
thing was  not  done  for  the  suppression  of  crime,  for  the 
true  exposition  of  the  principles  of  public  law,  for  the 
freedom  and  security  of  commerce  on  the  ocean,  and 
for  the  peace  of  the  world."  The  qualities  which  he 
displayed  in  these  negotiations  attracted  attention  in  the 
British  Parliament.  Macaulay  commented  on  his  "firm, 
resolute,  vigilant  and  unyielding"  manner.  Diplomatic 
j  writing  has  a  peculiar  rhetoric,  a  rhetoric  which  Webster 

had  the  good  sense  to  refuse  to  adopt  in  preference  to 
his  own.  Compared  with  his  condensed  and  weighty 
letter  upon  impressment,  for  instance,  the  ordinary 
fawning  or  threatening  diplomatic  performance  seems  a 
flimsy  structure  indeed.  The  claim,  on  the  part  of  the 
British  government,  of  the  right  to'  impress  British -born 
sailors  from  the  decks  of  American  ships  could  not 
survive  the  conclusive  arguments  which  he  crowded 
into  the  brief  letter  to  Ashburton,  and  which  without 
any  pretense  led  to  the  conclusion  that  "the  American 
government  then  is  prepared  to  say  that  the  practice  of 
impressing  seamen  from  American  vessels  cannot  be 
hereafter  allowed  to  take  place."  And  then  he  ran  up 
the  flag,  not  for  rhetorical  purposes,  but  over  the  solid 
foundation  of  reason,  from  which  it  can  never  be  hauled 

150 


down  without  overturning  established  principles  :     "In  Samuel 
every  regularly  documented  American  vessel  the  crew  Walker 
who  navigate  it  will  find  their  protection  in  the  flag  McCall 
that  is  over  them."     No  one  could  mistake  the  mean- 
ing of  what  was  so  simply  stated  after  its  justice  had 
been  so  conclusively  shown.     It  is   impossible  for  an 
American    to   read    the  diplomatic    correspondence    of 
Webster  while  Secretary  of  State  and  not  feel  a  new 
pride  in  his  country.     The  absolute  absence  of  anything 
petty    or   meretricious,    the    simple   dignity    and    the 
sublime  and  conscious  power  cause  one  to  feel  that  it 
ennobled  the  nation  to  have  such  a  defender.     It  may 
be  said,  too,  that  the  manner  in   which  he  conducted 
the  State   department    proved    that    he   possessed  the 
highest  qualities  of  executive  statesmanship. 

But  the  overshadowing  work  of  his  public  life  is  to 
be  found  in  the  part  he  performed  in  maintaining  the 
supremacy  of  the  laws  of  the  national  government  en- 
acted in  conformity  with  the  Constitution.  In  the  great 
controversy  over  the  relations  between  the  central  and 
state  governments,  which  began  soon  after  the  adoption 
of  the  Constitution  and  continued  until  it  was  removed 
from  the  forum  of  debate  to  be  settled  by  the  arbitra- 
ment of  arms,  Webster  was  the  colossal  figure.  From 
the  high  ground  he  took  in  the  reply  to  Hayne  he 
never  wavered.  If  he  erred  at  all  in  his  devotion  to  the 
national  idea,  it  was  in  the  sacrifices  he  was  willing  to 
make  for  it.  Twenty  years  after  his  first  great  discus- 
sion upon  the  Union,  he  made  a  speech  on  that  subject 
which  excited  fiercer  controversy  than  has  ever  been 
kindled  by  any  other  utterance  of  an  American  states- 
man. I  refer  to  the  speech  which,  whatever  it  might 


Samuel  be  appropriately  called  from  its  theme,  will  probably 
Walker  always  retain  the  name  of  the  Seventh  of  March  Speech. 
McCall  it  gave  rise  to  more  criticism,  to  employ  no  harsher 
term,  than  grew  out  of  all  the  rest  of  his  public  career. 
The  alienation,  which  it  occasioned,  from  many  of  his 
former  friends,  who  were  grieved  to  the  heart  and  re- 
garded him  after  the  seventh  of  March  as  a  fallen  arch- 
angel, the  relentless  abuse  it  drew  forth  from  others 
who  had  never  been  his  friends,  embittered  the  last  days 
of  his  life.  A  half  century  after  it  was  spoken  we  should 
be  able  to  hear  something  of  those  permanent  voices 
which  are  drowned  in  the  fleeting  tumult  of  the  times, 
but  which  speak  to  after  ages.  I  do  not  agree  that 
that  speech  must  be  passed  by  in  silence  out  of  regard 
for  Webster's  fame.  Twenty  years  ago  the  poet  Whit- 
tier  made  noble  reparation  for  "Ichabod  "in  the  "I/Dst 
Occasion,"  and  even  more  ample  reparation  would  be 
his  due  if  in  judging  him  one  applied  the  same  tests 
that  are  apparently  applied  to  his  critics. 

When  he  replied  to  Hayne,  the  danger  to  the 
Union  was  chiefly  theoretical,  except  for  the  attitude  of 
a  single  state,  but  on  the  seventh  of  March  the  contro- 
versy had  become  more  angry  and  practical.  Only  a  few 
weeks  before  he  spoke,  an  anti-slavery  society,  most 
respectable  in  numbers  and  the  character  of  its  members, 
had  met  in  his  own  state,  and  in  Faneuil  Hall,  and  had 
resolved  that  they  were  the  enemies  of  the  Constitution 
and  Union  and  proclaimed  their  purpose  to  "  live  and 
labor  for  a  dissolution  of  the  present  Union."  These 
resolutions  were  but  the  echo  of  what  had  come  from 
a  similar  society  in  the  state  of  Ohio.  They  emanated 
not  from  the  home  of  nullification  doctrines,  but  from 

152 


that  portion  of  the  country  where  the  hopes  of  the  Union  Samuel 
lay.  There  was  an  equally  uncompromising  and  a  more  Walker 
resentful  feeling  upon  the  other  side  of  the  slavery  ques-  McCall 
tions,  and  a  convention  had  been  called  at  the  city  of 
Nashville  to  give  it  voice.  That  convention  subsequently 
put  forth  an  address  in  favor  of  disunion.  The  an- 
nexation of  Texas,  the  war  with  Mexico  and  the  treaty 
of  peace  had  produced  practical  and  pressing  questions, 
and  Webster  had  come  reluctantly  to  believe  that  their 
solution,  without  detriment  to  the  Union,  was  most  dif- 
ficult in  the  inflamed  condition  of  the  public  mind. 
More  than  a  year  after  he  made  the  speech  he  declared 
that  "  in  a  very  alarming  crisis  "  he  felt  it  his  "duty  to 
come  out. "  "  If , "  he  said  at  that  time,  ' '  I  had  seen  the 
stake,  if  I  had  heard  the  fagots  already  crackling,  by 
the  blessing  of  Almighty  God,  I  would  have  gone  on 
and  discharged  the  duty  which  I  thought  my  country 
called  upon  me  to  perform." 

That  a  similar  opinion  of  the  importance  of  the 
crisis  was  entertained  by  those  two  great  men  whose 
names  stand  perhaps  next  to  his  own  and  forever  to  be 
associated  with  it  in  our  Congressional  annals,  there 
can  be  no  doubt.  There  is  something  pathetic  in  the 
spectacle  of  those  three  statesmen,  then  almost  at  the 
end  of  their  careers,  who  had  often  radically  differed 
with  each  other  upon  public  questions,  bending  their 
energies  to  the  support  of  a  common  cause  and  strug- 
gling to  avert  a  common  danger.  Clay  put  forth  a  last 
effort  of  his  statesmanship  and  brought  forward  his  com- 
promise measure.  For  the  moment  he  forgot  his  dif- 
ferences with  Webster  and  earnestly  besought  the  latter 
for  his  support.  Calhoun,  too  weak  to  utter  his  own 

(53 


Samuel  words,  spoke  through  the  mouth  of  another,  in  his  last 
Walker  speech  in  the  Senate,  his  sense  of  the  gravity  of  the 
McCall  crisis.  It  was  said,  and  has  been  so  often  repeated  that 
it  is  accepted  in  some  quarters  as  an  article  of  political 
faith,  that  Webster  made  his  speech  as  a  bid  for  the 
Presidency.  The  imputation  of  an  unworthy  motive  to 
a  public  man  is  easy  to  make  and  difficult  to  disprove. 
But  on  this  point  it  is  pertinent  to  remember  that  he 
threw  away  his  fairest  chance  for  the  Presidency  by 
patriotically  refusing,  at  the  dictates  of  his  own  party 
in  his  own  state  and  of  its  leaders  in  the  country,  to  re- 
tire from  Tyler's  cabinet  until  our  differences  with  Great 
Britain  should  be  composed  ;  that  he  had  many  times 
resigned  or  refused  to  accept  important  public  office ; 
that  the  great  position  of  Senator  from  Massachusetts 
had  more  than  once  to  be  forced  upon  him,  and  that, 
before  the  yth  of  March  at  least,  he  had  fully  lived  up 
to  his  own  impressive  declaration  that  solicitations  for 
high  public  office  were  ' '  inconsistent  with  personal  dig- 
nity and  derogatory  to  the  character  of  the  institutions 
of  the  country."  Solicitude  for  the  Union  was  no  new 
thing  with  him,  that  an  ignoble  motive  should  be  as- 
cribed. But  it  was  not  the  first  time,  or  probably  will 
not  be  the  last,  when  those  having  in  view  the  accom- 
plishment of  some  great  public  object  to  the  exclusion 
of  everything  else, have  imputed  evil  motives  to  those  who 
have  not  sanctioned  their  particular  course  of  procedure, 
especially  when  they  threatened  to  pull  down  the  pillars 
of  the  state  itself,  if  thereby  the  evil  might  be  destroyed 
in  the  common  calamity.  Reform  draws  to  itself  not 
only  the  single-minded  who  have  no  sordid  aims,  but  it 
is  attractive  also  to  those  censorious  spirits  who  delight 

J54 


not  so  much  in  battering  down  the  ramparts   of  wrong  Samuel 
as  in  abusing  those  hapless  individuals  who  will  not   Walker 
agree  that  evil  methods  are  to  be  sanctified  by  noble  McCall 
ends.     In  the  speeches  of  some  of  the  leaders  of  the  anti- 
slavery   movement,    denunciation   of   slavery   had   the 
second  place  and  denunciation  of  Webster  the  first,  and 
when  the  time  of  consummation  came,  even  Lincoln  did 
not  escape  their  acrimony. 

The  high  moral  purpose  and  the  great  practical  value 
of  the  abolition  movement  cannot  be  questioned.  But  it 
also  cannot  be  questioned  that  a  good  deal  of  the  agita- 
tion was  disruptive,  and,  in  the  conditions  then  existing, 
tended  less  towards  freedom  than  to  disunion  and  war. 
They  might  have  broken  the"compact  with  hell"  which 
was  the  favorite  term  of  some  of  them  for  the  Constitution 
of  their  country,  but  it  is  not  easy  to  see  how  this  pro- 
gramme could  have  broken  a  single  chain,  with  a  free 
and  a  slave  republic  side  by  side  and  hostile  to  each 
other.  In  the  light  of  to-day  it  can  be  clearly  seen  that 
to  accomplish  freedom  the  concurrence  of  other  forces 
was  demanded.  The  truth  will  often  ultimately  spring 
from  apparently  contradictory  forces.  Agitation  was 
necessary  to  educate  and  arouse  the  people,  but  it  needed 
also  to  be  checked  before  it  should  become  swollen 
beyond  constitutional  limits  and  form  the  basis  of  a 
revolution,  for  with  any  important  body  of  opinion  at 
the  North  co-operating  with  disunion  at  the  South,  the 
nation  would  have  been  rent  asunder. 

But  look  a  little  more  closely  at  the  matter.  I  pre- 
sume no  one  would  now  criticise  the  willingness  of  Web- 
ster, as  the  great  advocate  of  constitutional  supremacy, 
to  accord  to  the  South  whatever  it  had  a  right,  accord- 

155 


Samuel  ing  to  the  terms  of  the  Constitution,  to  demand.  The 
walker  gpeci£c  thing  jn  the  speech  criticised,  with  the  nearest 
approach  to  justice,  was  the  position  with  regard  to  New 
Mexico.  He  declared  that  natural  law  had  effectively 
banished  slavery  from  that  territory,  because  of  its  sterile 
and  mountainous  character,  and  that  he  would  not  vote 
uselessly  to  re-enact  the  will  of  God  and  banish  slavery 
by  a  statute.  He  therefore  accepted  that  feature  of 
Clay's  compromise  with  the  declaration  that  he  would 
favor  the  application  of  the  so-called  Wilmot  proviso  to 
any  territory  in  which  there  was  any  danger  that  slavery 
might  be  established.  This  was  certainly  a  technical  if 
not  a  practical  concession  to  the  Southern  demands. 
For  accepting  this  policy  with  regard  to  New  Mexico, 
he  was  accused  by  Mr.  Seward,  who  undoubtedly  spoke 
the  sentiments  of  the  Free  Soil  leaders,  with  having 
u  derided  the  proviso  of  freedom,  the  principle  of  the 
ordinance  of  1787."  Ten  years  later,  when  it  did  not 
require  a  statesman's  eye  to  see  the  danger,  nor  a  states- 
man's ear  to  hear  the  thunders  of  the  approaching  storm, 
Congress  consented  to  apply  the  very  principle  which 
Webster  was  willing  to  concede  to  New  Mexico,  to  the 
whole  of  that  vast  domain  out  of  which  the  Dakotas  and 
Nevada  and  Colorado  have  since  been  carved,  and  neither 
Seward  nor  Adams  nor  Sumner,  nor  any  other  member 
of  Congress  belonging  to  the  great  new  anti-slavery 
party,  was  heard  to  raise  his  voice  or  vote  against  it. 
These  men  were  his  critics.  Surely,  if  Webster  was  a 
traitor  to  the  cause  of  freedom,  they  must  keep  him  com- 
pany. If  he  was  a  traitor,  their  guilt  was  deeper  than 
his,  for  they  were  the  special  guardians  of  freedom 
while  he  was  only  the  champion  of  the  Union  ;  and  the 

156 


scornful  repeal  by  the  South  of  the  settlement  of  1850  Samuel 
shed  a  brighter  light  for  them  than  was  given  to  him,  Walker 
upon  the  futility  of  all  compromise.    The  truth  is,  none  McCall 
of  them  was  a  traitor.     They  were  true-hearted,  patri- 
otic men,  solicitous  for  the  preservation  of  the  Republic 
which  they  loved.     But  when  the  most  responsible  of 
Webster's  accusers  saw  the  danger,  as  he  saw  it,  they 
were  willing  to  make  concessions  to  slavery  far  more 
hateful  than  any  of  which  he  had  ever  dreamed. 

In  the  great  conflict  of  arms  in  which  the  debate 
finally  culminated,  it  was  the  sentiment  of  Union  that 
banded  those  invincible  armies  together,  and  it  was 
only  through  the  triumph  of  that  sentiment  that  we  en- 
joyed the  blessings  of  a  restored  government  and  that  the 
slave  secured  his  freedom.  And  had  that  great  states- 
man on  the  yth  of  March  shown  any  less  anxiety  for  the 
Union,  had  that  great  centripetal  force  become  centrifu- 
gal or  weakened  in  the  attraction  which  it  exerted  to 
hold  the  states  in  their  orbits,  who  shall  say  that  our 
magnificent  and  now  united  domain  might  not  be  covered 
by  two  hostile  flags,  one  of  which  would  float  over  a  re- 
public founded  upon  slavery ! 

And  then  there  is  that  ill-omened  thing  which, 
wherever  else  it  may  be  found,  is  sure  to  attend  great- 
ness. The  baleful  goddess  of  Detraction  sits  ever  at  the 
elbow  of  Fame  unsvveetening  what  is  written  upon  the 
record.  Whether  it  springs  from  the  envy  of  rivals  or 
from  the  tendency  in  human  nature  to  identify  the  ma- 
terial of  greatness  with  common  clay,  it  is  true,  as  Burke 
says,  that  obloquy  is  an  essential  ingredient  in  the  com- 
position of  all  true  glory.  This  proof  of  greatness,  such 
as  it  is,  exists  in  ample  measure  in  the  history  of  Web- 

157 


Samtiel  ster.  No  man  since  Washington  has  had  more  of  it. 
Walker  The  pity  of  it  all  is  that  when  an  unsupported  charge 
McCall  is  disproved,  some  people  will  shake  their  heads  and  say 
it  is  very  unfortunate  that  it  should  have  been  necessary 
to  establish  innocence,  as  if  reproof  belonged  rather  to 
the  innocent  victim  than  to  the  author  of  the  calumny. 
I  have  alluded  to  the  Seventh  of  March  Speech, 
which  has  been  accounted  one  of  his  crimes.  One 
other  matter  I  shall  notice  because  it  bears  upon  a  point 
which  has  often  been  conceded  to  be  the  weak  place  in 
his  character.  It  so  happens  that  in  this  case  a  slander 
was  tested  and  the  evidence  upon  it  carefully  marshalled 
before  a  Congressional  investigating  committee.  He 
was  charged  in  Congress  with  a  misuse  of  the  Secret 
Service  Fund  while  Secretary  of  State.  A  resolution  of 
inquiry  upon  the  subject  was  presented  in  the  Senate 
while  he  was  a  member  of  that  body.  He  opposed  it. 
Rather  a  singular  course,  it  might  be  said,  for  an  inno- 
cent man  to  take.  It  would  ordinarily  be  regarded  as 
an  evidence  of  guilt.  It  might  also  show  an  extraordi- 
nary degree  of  public  virtue  and  indicate  one  of  the 
rare  men  to  whom  the  interests  of  their  country  were 
dearer  than  their  own,  even  than  their  own  reputations. 
What  it  implied  in  this  instance  may  be  inferred  from 
the  event. 

A  law  had  been  framed  evidently  on  the  theory  that 
in  conducting  the  government  it  would  sometimes  be 
necessary  to  employ  secret  agents  for  confidential  pur- 
poses, and  a  fund  was  created  to  be  expended  upon  the 
sole  responsibility  of  the  President.  A  publication  of 
the  special  disbursements  would  violate  the  spirit  of  the 
law,  and,  to  say  nothing  of  the  bad  faith  with  reference 

158 


to  the  past,  might  cripple  the  government  in  its  future  Samuel 
operations.  Webster  declared  in  the  Senate  that  every  Walker 
dollar  had  been  spent  for  a  proper  public  purpose,  but  McCall 
that  he  could  not  wish  to  see  an  important  principle 
and  law  violated  for  any  personal  convenience  to  him- 
self. The  Senate  refused  to  make  the  inquiry.  The 
author  of  the  charges,  writhing  under  the  lashing  which 
Webster  had  administered  to  him  in  a  speech  in  the  Sen- 
ate, again  pressed  them  in  the  House  and  a  committee 
of  investigation  was  appointed.  That  committee  was 
politically  hostile  to  Webster  and  was  appointed  with  a 
view  to  his  impeachment,  if  the  charges  were  sustained. 
It  made  a  thorough  investigation  and  it  appeared,  as  the 
outcome  of  it  all,  that  Webster  had  not  indeed  displayed 
the  highest  skill  as  an  accountant,  but  it  appeared  also 
that  he  himself  had  paid  the  amount  of  certain  lost 
vouchers  out  of  his  own  pocket.  The  report  concluded 
that  there  was  no  proof  "  to  impeach  Mr.  Webster's  in- 
tegrity or  the  purity  of  his  motives  in  the  discharge  of 
the  duties  of  his  office."  And  that  report  exonerating 
the  defender  of  the  Union  will  not  lose  weight  from  the 
fact  that  it  bears  the  name  of  Jefferson  Davis. 

It  is  true  that  his  friends  contributed  considerable 
sums  of  money  to  his  support,  and  for  this  he  was  se- 
verely criticised.  Burke  received  from  his  friends  dur- 
ing his  life,  gifts,  or  loans  that  were  never  repaid,  to  an 
enormous  amount  for  those  days.  Fox's  friends  gave  him 
an  annuity  of  $15,000.  I  do  not  know  that  it  has  oc- 
curred to  anyone  to  accuse  either  of  them  of  impropriety. 
Can  it  be  doubted  that  Webster's  friends  were  as  much 
attached  to  him,  or  that  they  gave  from  pure  personal 
loyalty  mingled  with  a  desire  to  maintain  in  the  service 

159 


Samwel  of  their  country,  talents  as  splendid  as  ever  Fox  or  Burke 
"Walker  possessed,  and  that  were  even  more  successfully  em- 
McCall  ployed  ?  It  is  to  be  regretted  from  the  abuse  to  which  his 
example  may  give  rise  that  he  found  it  necessary  to  re- 
ceive this  aid.  The  danger  is  that  a  far  lesser  man  than 
Webster  in  a  high  public  place  might  receive  a  more 
calculating  homage.  However,  each  case  must  be  judged 
on  its  own  merits.  It  is  very  true  that  he  was  not  a 
bookkeeper.  But  if  accounts  had  been  carefully  kept, 
it  may  be  doubted  whether  even  from  the  money  stand- 
point he  did  not  give  more  than  he  received.  Instead 
of  neglecting  his  profession  and  eking  out  his  expenses 
by  the  aid  of  friends,  he  might  have  remained  out  of  the 
public  service  and  enjoyed  the  most  lucrative  practice  at 
the  American  bar.  His  father  and  his  brother  made 
great  sacrifices  to  educate  him,  but  it  must  also  not  be 
forgotten  that  he  taught  school,  and  at  the  same  time 
copied  two  large  volumes  of  deeds  at  night  and  gener- 
ously gave  the  proceeds  of  it  all  to  his  brother  ;  and  that 
he  assumed  and  paid  his  father's  debts.  He  certainly  was 
not  a  man  "who  much  receives  but  nothing  gives." 
He  had  a  regal  nature  and  men  would  give  him  their  all 
because  he  was  as  free  and  generous  as  he  was  receptive. 
There  is  a  strong  light  thrown  upon  this  trait  of 
his  character  by  an  incident  which  among  great 
speeches  and  public  policies  may  seem  an  unimportant 
incident,  and  yet  as  showing  the  real  character  of 
the  man  is  a  great  one.  A  young  man  who  had  been 
employed  by  him  in  connection  with  his  farms  in  the 
West  came  to  Washington,  where  he  fell  ill.  Webster 
was  at  that  time  nearly  sixty  years  old,  at  the  summit 
of  his  fame  and  engrossed  in  his  public  duties.  But  he 

160 


saw  this  farmer's  boy  sick  in  the  city  among  strangers.  Samuel 
He  took  care  of  him  with  his  own  hands.  For  a  week 
he  was  with  him  almost  constantly  day  and  night. 
Critics  have  applied  to  this  generous  nature  the  little 
standards  for  little  men.  They  have  told  us  that  he 
ought  not  to  have  been  extravagant ;  that  he  did  not 
closely  calculate  his  expenses  ;  that  he  did  not  carefully 
keep  his  accounts  ;  and  as  they  would  arraign  a  petty 
criminal  before  a  police  court,  they  have  harried  this 
transcendent  figure  at  history's  bar.  They  demanded 
too  much  of  Nature.  If  she  had  tried  to  do  more  for 
him  upon  whom  she  had  lavished  so  many  gifts,  she 
might  indeed  have  made  him  a  great  clerk  or  book- 
keeper, but  she  might  also  have  spoiled  him  as  a  states- 
man. Careless  he  may  have  been,  but  anything  like  con- 
scious corruption  was  utterly  alien  to  his  nature. 

And  now  having  spoken  to  you,  I  fear  much  too 
long,  of  those  things  in  his  career  which  I  thought  best 
suited  for  bringing  out  my  idea  of  him,  let  us  look  back 
at  him  for  a  moment  before  we  leave  him.  We  have 
seen  him  the  greatest  lawyer  of  his  time  and  one  of  the 
greatest  orators  of  all  times.  We  have  seen  him,  too, 
the  resolute  and  masterful  statesman,  not  swayed  by 
trifles,  but  aiming  to  govern  according  to  far-sighted 
policies  a  nation  dominated  by  great  principles  and  of 
chief  consequence  to  itself  or  mankind  only  as  it  faith- 
fully adhered  to  them  ;  a  statesman  who  shed  a  white 
light  far  across  the  future  pathway  of  his  own  country, 
and  who  illuminated,  too,  the  courses  of  self-governing 
nations,  wherever  they  might  exist.  He  never  out- 
grew the  simple  loves  of  his  youth.  At  Marshfield  it 
was  his  habit  to  rise  before  daybreak  to  watch  the 

161 


Samuel  coming  of  the  dawn.  It  was  said  that  his  cattle  knew 
Walker  him,  and,  even  more  than  his  open  hospitality,  his  herds 
McCall  of  fine  oxen  kept  him  poor.  It  was  one  of  his  pleasures 
to  feed  them  with  ears  of  corn  out  of  his  own  hand,  and 
only  a  few  days  before  he  died  he  had  some  of  the 
noblest  of  them  brought  before  his  window  that  he 
might  get  comfort  from  looking  out  upon  their  broad 
brows  and  their  great  mild  eyes.  The  passion  for  fishing 
never  left  him.  He  delighted  to  wade  in  some  brook 
for  trout,  but  of  all  things  he  loved  to  go  out  in  a  little 
skiff  upon  the  sea.  "Marshfield  and  the  sea,  the  sea," 
he  would  cry  when  the  burdens  of  political  life  grew 
heavy  upon  him.  The  farmers  about  his  home  loved 
him  and  it  so  happened  that  they  gathered  together 
from  miles  around  and  went  out  in  a  great  procession  to 
meet  him  when  he  returned  to  Marshfield  the  last 
summer  of  his  life.  Those  who  knew  him  best,  his 
family  and  his  near  friends,  were  devoted  to  him.  What 
he  was  as  a  statesman  and  an  orator,  he  was  as  a  man. 
To  the  College  which,  now  well  into  the  second 
century  of  her  life,  still  has  upon  her  the  freshness  of 
the  morning,  those  early  years  of  struggle,  no  less  nar- 
row and  straitened  for  her  than  for  him,  take  on  an 
air  of  romance.  To  me,  no  other  part  of  his  career 
seems  so  much  to  be  reverenced  as  when  that  matchless 
youth  in  all  the  innocence  and  perfection  of  nature,  with 
those  infinite  possibilities  in  his  soul,  received  here  the 
first  of  the  lessons  which  taught  him  how  to  use  his 
superb  gifts  for  the  benefit  of  mankind.  The  campus 
hedged  with  elms,  yonder  venerable  hall,  these  encir- 
cling hills,  whether  clad  with  the  green  of  springtime 
or,  as  now,  flaming  with  the  gold  of  autumn,  became  a 

J62 


part  of  his  life  and  all  speak  to  us  of  him.     Men  die,  Samuel 
but  the  College  is  immortal.     A  hundred  classes  have  Walker 
followed  him  and  hundreds  more  I  doubt  not  will  yet  McCali 
prolong  the  line.     Her  sons  will  continue  to  bear  their 
part  where  the  intellectual  strife  is  the  fiercest  and  where 
shape  is  given  to  the  destinies  of  their  times.    But  what- 
ever the  future  may  bring  to  the  College,  however  she 
may  hereafter  "  teem  with  new  prodigies,"   she  will 
always  proudly  cherish  and,  as  the  succeeding  centuries 
roll  around,  will  reverently  commemorate,  the  fame  of 
Daniel  Webster. 

Conferring  of  Honorary  Degrees. 

By  the  President  of  the  College. 
RESIDENT  Tucker  in  conferring  the   honorary 
degrees  said  : 

'  'The  trustees  of  Dartmouth  College  direct  me  to 
express  their  pleasure  in  inviting  into  our  academic  fel- 
lowship the  following  persons  through  the  honorary  de- 
gree of  Master  of  Arts: 

"Samuel  Appleton,  of  St.  Paul,  Minnesota;  Frank 
Dunklee  Currier,  Congressman,  Second  District  of 
New  Hampshire;  James  Waldron  Remick,  Judge  of  the 
Supreme  Court  of  New  Hampshire;  Harry  Gene  Sar- 
gent, Mayor  of  Concord ;  Wendell  Phillips  Stafford, 
Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Vermont. 

"The  trustees  of  Dartmouth  College  authorize  me 
to  confer  upon  the  following  persons  the  honorary 
degree  of  Doctor  of  Laws  : 

"Chester  Bradley  Jordan ;  Governor  of  the  State  of 
New  Hampshire,  honorable  in  purpose,  sagacious  in 
counsel,  decisive  in  action. 

J63 


Honorary  "Edgar  Aldrich  ;  Judge  of  the  United  States  District 

Degrees  Court  for  New  Hampshire,  whose  dignity  conserves  the 

tradition  of  the  bench,  whose  sense  of  justice  accords 

with  the  spirit  of   the   law,   whose   love  of   literature 

enriches  his  learning  and  adorns  his  speech. 

"William  Eaton  Chandler  ;  for  forty-six  years  an 
able  servant  of  the  state  and  of  the  country,  initiator  of 
the  new  navy,  actively  identified  with  the  aggressive 
policy  of  the  nation,  bold,  astute,  tenacious,  rich  in 
sentiment  and  feeling. 

"James  Fairbanks  Colby;  jurist  and  teacher,  thorough 
in  research,  independent  in  opinion,  inflexible  in  ideals 
of  justice  and  duty. 

"Frank  Swett  Black  ;  lawyer  and  executive,  clear 
and  direct  of  purpose,  strong  and  fearless  in  municipal 
reform,  a  student  of  law,  a  leader  of  men,  true  to  him- 
self in  professional  and  public  life. 

"Francis  Brown;  scholar ,  honor  to  an  honorable 
name,  of  repute  at  home,  of  repute  abroad,  staunch  in 
loyalty  to  truth,  at  the  forefront  in  theological  progress. 

"Samuel  Walker  McCall;  Member  of  Congress  from 
the  Eighth  District  of  Massachusetts,  student  of  men  and 
of  events,  who  reads  the  issues  of  the  times,  not  in  the 
glare  of  the  hour,  but  in  the  light  of  history,  steadfast 
in  conviction,  strong  in  utterance,  in  action  above  ex- 
pediency. 

"William  Everett ;  Head  Master  of  the  Adams 
school,  highly  endowed  and  variously  accomplished,  an 
ornament  to  the  professions  he  has  served,  delighting 
most  in  the  ancient  calling  of  schoolmaster. 

"Edward  Everett  Hale;  venerated  and  beloved, 
comforter  and  quickener  of  men,  devoted  to  the  social 

(64 


well  being,  whose  citizenship  is  acknowledged  alike  in  Honorary 
the  republic  of  letters,  of  the  state,  and  of  religion.  Degrees 

"George  Frisbie  Hoar;  senior  Senator  from  Massa- 
chusetts, fit  successor  of  Webster,  master  of  speech, 
advocate  of  freedom,  a  patriot  who  widens  the  bounds 
of  party  to  satisfy  the  demands  of  liberty  and  justice. 

"Melville  Weston  Fuller;  Chief  Justice  of  the 
United  States,  graduate  of  Bowdoin,  of  Dartmouth 
lineage  and  succession,  grandson  of  Judge  Henry  Weld 
Fuller  of  the  class  of  1801,  grandson  of  Chief  Justice 
Nathan  Weston  of  the  class  of  1803,  successor  in  ofHce 
to  Salmon  Portland  Chase  of  the  class  of  1826,  who  adds 
to  inheritance  and  succession,  learning,  insight,  char- 
acter, watchful  guardian  of  the  Constitution,  firm 
arbiter  of  justice. 

"I  am  also  authorized  by  the  trustees  of  Dartmouth 
College  to  confer  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Laws  upon  the 
following  persons  in  absence  : 

'  'James  Bryce ;  interpreter  of  the  American  people 
and  of  the  American  government  to  the  world. 

'  'John  Hay  ;  pilot  of  the  ship  of  State  through  un- 
charted seas. 

"Booker  Taliafero  Washington  ;  leader  of  a  race  out 
of  childhood  into  manhood. 

"I  am  also  authorized  to  announce  that  at  a  meeting 
of  the  trustees  held  in  June  it  was  voted  to  confer  the 
degree  of  Doctor  of  Laws  upon  Frank  Palmer  Goulding 
of  the  class  of  1863,  who  has  fallen  from  our  ranks, 
leaving  to  us  the  honor  of  his  character,  attainments, 
and  career." 

The  recipients  of  the  degrees  were  greeted  with 
great  enthusiasm,  the  whole  audience  rising  to  its  feet 

165 


Honorary  as  the .  degree  was  conferred  upon  Senator   Hoar   and 
Degrees  upon  Chief  Justice  Fuller.    The  enthusiasm  was  no  less 
marked  in  the  case  of  those  upon  whom  degrees  were 
conferred  in  absence. 


166 


Exercises      of 
Wednesday  Afternoon 


Program. 

The  site  of  Webster  Hall  is  on  the  lot  at  the  northeast  cor- 
ner of  the  Common,  opposite  Rollins  Chapel*  The  lot  was 
given  by  the  Honorable  Levi  Parsons  Morton,  LJL  D., 
Honorary  '8  J.  The  building  is  erected  through  the  con- 
tributions of  the  alumni.  The  architect  is  Charles  Alonzo 
Rich,  '75,  of  New  York.  At  230  o'clock  a  vast  assembly 
was  gathered  to  listen  to  the  addresses  and  to  witness  the 
ceremonies  attending  the  laying  of  the  corner-stone. 
March  from  Tannhauser.  Wagner 

Salem  Cadet  Band. 

Choral  Invocation — Domine  Salvam  Fac.  Gounod 

Address  of  the  Presiding  Officer,  Frank  Sherman  Streeter, 

Esquire,  '74,  of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  Chairman  of  the 

Building  Committee. 

Address  by  the  Honorable  Frank  Swett  Black,  '75. 
Laying  of  the  corner-stone  of  Webster  Hall  by  Lewis  Addi- 

son  Armistead,  great  grandson  of  Daniel  Webster. 
Chorus — Praise  ye  the  Father.  Gounod 

Prayer  of  Dedication  by  the  Reverend  Cyrus  Richardson, 

D.  D.,  '64. 

Chorus — Men  of  Dartmouth.  cMorse 

Exercises  in  the  Old  Chapel. 
Out-of-Door  Concert  by  the  Salem  Cadet  Band. 


Address  of  the  Presiding  Officer. 

By  Frank  Sherman  Streeter,  Esquire,  '74. 
Mr.  President  and  Friends : 

URING  the  last  six   years,  the  trustees  have 
erected   six    new  buildings,  at  a  cost  of  some- 

what  more  than  four  hundred  thousand  dollars. 

Richardson  and  Fay er weather  are  devoted  to  the  dormi- 
tory life  of  the  students.     Butterfield  and  Wilder  fur- 

169 


D 


Frank  nish  a  home  for  two  of  the  important  departments  of  the 

Sherman  College.      The  Central  Heating  Station  is  a  most  valu- 

Streetcr  able  addition  to  the  general  College  plant,  and  College 

Hall  is  designed  to  become  the  center  of  student  social 

life. 

We  are  now  beginning  the  erection  of  a  new 
structure  which  is  to  serve  a  double  purpose.  In  this 
building  will  be  carried  on  the  active  administration  of 
the  College.  On  the  main  floor  will  be  found  the  of- 
fices of  the  president,  treasurer,  dean,  trustees,  and 
faculty.  Here  will  be  the  working  center  of  the  Col- 
lege life.  The  upper  floor  will  be  used  exclusively  for 
academic  occasions.  In  a  stately  hall  will  be  gathered 
and  preserved  all  that  will  keep  fresh  in  the  general 
mind  the  romantic  beginnings  of  the  College,  her 
splendid  history,  and  the  fine  achievements  of  her  more 
illustrious  sons  in  the  work  of  the  world. 

Here  the  active  administration  of  the  College  will 
be  carried  on  under  the  very  eye,  as  it  were,  of  all  that 
is  best  and  noblest  in  her  past  history.  The  president, 
the  trustees,  and  the  faculty  unite  in  the  belief  that  the 
history,  sentiments,  and  traditions,  here  to  be  ever 
present,  will  be  of  large  value  in  aiding  them  to  ad- 
minister wisely  this  great  charitable  trust. 

The  College  has  invited  one  of  her  most  dis- 
tinguished and  honored  sons  to  say  the  fitting  word 
on  this  great  occasion.  I  present  to  you  the  Honorable 
Frank  Swett  Black,  a  graduate  of  the  class  of  1875  and 
ex-Governor  of  the  state  of  New  York. 


J70 


Address  at  tHe  Laying  of  tHe  Cor-  Frank 

ner-Stone  of  Webster  Hall.          Swett 

Black 

By  the  Honorable  Frank  S^toett  Black,  '75. 

Mr.  President,  Gentlemen  of  Dartmouth   College,  and 
Fellow  Citizens  : 

T""1  HIS  simple  ceremony,  unmarked  by  pretense  or 
display,  beginning  a  structure  dedicated  to  the 
cold  pursuit  of  learning,  exposes  to  the  ob- 


servant eye  that  American  trait  which  is  the  stone 
on  which  the  corner  of  the  national  temple  stands  and 
where  the  heaviest  timbers  rest.  It  is  that  respect  for 
order,  liberty  and  law  which  stands  against  every 
trial  and  which  no  commotion  can  dislodge  or  break. 
Underneath,  as  all  support  must  be,  naked  of  adorn- 
ment or  inscription,  imbedded  in  the  earth  where  no  eye 
can  behold  and  no  applause  can  cheer,  it  rests  serene 
in  its  everlasting  work,  unmoved  in  its  native  strength. 
Over  its  head  the  tower  may  rise  with  gilded  dome  and 
commemorative  arch  to  excite  the  wonder  of  the  throng, 
but  it  alone,  in  silent  and  complete  obscurity,  will  rest 
forever  unapplauded  and  unseen.  And  yet  it  is  the  base 
without  which  no  monument  can  stand.  It  is  the  foun- 
dation whose  weakness  or  decay  would  bring  all  the 
glory  standing  over  it  to  ruin  and  despair.  It  was  not 
by  show  or  glitter  or  by  sound  that  the  great  moments 
of  history  were  marked,  and  the  great  deeds  of  mankind 
were  wrought.  The  color  counts  for  nothing  ;  it  is  the 
fibre  alone  that  lasts.  The  precept  will  be  forgotten 
unless  the  deed  is  remembered.  The  wildest  strains  of 
martial  music  will  pass  away  on  the  wind,  while  the 
grim  and  deadly  courage  of  the  soldier,  moving  and 

171 


Frank  acting  without  a  word,  will  mark  the  spot  where  pil- 
Swett  grims  of  every  race  will  linger  and  worship  forever. 
Black  No  character  in  the  world  more  clearly  saw  the 
worth  of  substance  and  the  mockery  of  show  than  he  in 
whose  honor  this  structure  will  be  reared.  And  this 
tribute  to  him  who  for  nearly  half  a  century  has  been 
gone  from  the  sight  of  men  is  a  tribute  also  to  those 
who  remember  and  respect  the  qualities  which  he  ex- 
emplified, and  to  that  renowned  institution  where  his 
early  years  were  spent.  His  college  is  no  longer  a 
"lesser  light  on  the  literary  horizon  of  our  country." 
It  has  risen  and  increased  from  the  hour  of  his  devout  and 
matchless  service  until  its  kindly  light  has  encircled  the 
world,  revealing  and  proclaiming  in  its  great  career  the 
doctrine  that,  although  vanity  and  pretense  may  flourish 
for  a  day,  there  can  be  no  lasting  triumph  not  founded 
on  the  truth. 

The  life  of  Daniel  Webster  moved  upon  that  high, 
consistent  plane  which  the  surroundings  of  his  youth  in- 
spired. Poverty  is  a  hard  but  oftentimes  a  loving 
nurse.  If  fortune  denies  the  luxuries  of  wealth,  she 
makes  generous  compensation  in  that  greater  love  which 
they  alone  can  know  who  have  faced  privations  together. 
The  child  may  shiver  in  the  fury  of  the  blast,  which  no 
maternal  tenderness  can  shield  him  from,  but  he  may 
feel  a  helpless  tear  dropped  upon  his  cheek  which  will 
keep  him  warm  till  the  snows  of  time  have  covered  his 
hair.  It  is  not  wealth  that  counts  in  the  making  of  the 
world,  but  character.  And  character  is  best  formed 
amid  those  conditions  when  every  waking  hour  is  filled 
with  struggle,  where  no  flag  of  truce  is  ever  sent  and 
only  darkness  stays  the  conflict.  Give  me  the  hut  that 

172 


is  small  enough,  the  poverty  that  is  deep  enough,  the  Frank 
love  that  is  great  enough,  and  I  will  raise  from  them  the  Swett 
best  there  is  in  human  character.  And  so  it  came  to  Black 
pass  that  Daniel  Webster  left  his  home  for  college  bear- 
ing those  possessions  which  gold  could  not  buy  nor 
thieves  despoil  him  of.  And  on  this  spot  where  nature 
seemed  to  do  her  best,  this  noble  institution  which  he 
loved  developed  with  patient  care  his  splendid  powers. 
This  lad,  uncouth  and  poor,  without  aid  or  accidental 
circumstance,  rising  as  steadily  as  the  sun,  marked  a 
path  across  the  sky  so  luminous  and  clear  that  there  is 
not  one  to  mate  it  to  be  discovered  in  the  heavens,  and 
throughout  its  whole  majestic  length  there  is  no  spot  or 
blemish  in  it.  Injustice  is  the  lot  of  every  man,  and 
Webster  had  his  share.  He  had  stood  in  the  open  field 
for  many  years  and  round  him  shone  a  constant,  steady 
light.  He  had  borne  responsibility  with  such  dignity 
and  power  that  universal  admiration  followed  him.  He 
had  been  in  many  a  desperate  conflict,  and  in  each  his 
was  the  giant  mind,  and  from  each  he  had  worn  away 
the  victor's  wreath.  Proud  yet  sensitive,  strong  and 
yet  dependent,  conscious  of  his  own  integrity,  filled  with 
intense  devotion  to  his  country,  around  the  head  of  this 
majestic  figure  descended  that  storm  of  bitter  and  un- 
reasoning anger  which  always  gathers  when  deep  con- 
victions have  settled  in  fiery  hearts. 

No  great  reform  has  ever  been  accomplished  in  this 
world  without  some  attending  outrage  which  would  cov- 
er a  smaller  cause  with  shame.  When  the  blood  is  hot 
and  passion  is  in  control,  the  man  who  steps  before  the 
multitude  to  raise  the  warning  finger  will  be  trodden  un- 
der foot,  for  anger  sees  in  reason  only  the  sign  of 

173 


Frank  treachery.     And  so  there  fell  across  the  path  of   him 
Swett  whose  life  had  been  devoted  to  the  cause  of  liberty  and 
Black  union  a  deep  and  cruel    shadow    through   which   he 
could  not  pass. 

When  old  wrongs  have  been  acknowledged  and 
deeds  long  misinterpreted  have  been  finally  understood, 
these  tilings  the  dead  can  never  know,  and  this  is  the 
saddest  of  all  the  grave's  relentless  cruelties.  But  those 
who  live  to  see  in  undisturbed  perspective  the  grandeur 
of  his  character  have  realized  that  through  all  his  life 
his  purposes  were  honorable  and  high.  The  most  en- 
during column  on  which  this  Union  rests  was  fashioned 
by  his  hand.  Through  all  this  nation's  unexampled 
progress  there  has  been  no  loftier  motive  or  ideal  than 
those  his  genius  has  inspired.  And  even  now,  when 
fifty  years  have  passed,  a  length  of  time  sufficient  to 
erase  the  letters  in  which  most  great  names  are 
carved,  the  doctrines  he  established  are  still  the  nation's 
accepted  chart,  the  precepts  he  enunciated  are  still  po- 
tent in  the  nation's  life.  He  believed  in  individual  free- 
dom governed  by  tolerance  and  sobriety,  but  above  all 
he  believed  in  that  loyal  devotion  to  country,  ever  ready 
to  be  sacrificed  on  the  altar  of  national  permanence  and 
success.  The  love  of  justice  and  fair  play,  and  that  re- 
spect for  order  and  the  law  which  must  underlie  every 
nation  that  would  long  endure,  were  deeply  imbedded 
in  his  nature.  These,  I  know,  are  qualities  destitute  of 
show,  and  whose  names  are  never  set  to  music,  but  un- 
less there  is  in  the  people's  hearts  a  deep  sense  of  their 
everlasting  value,  that  people  can  neither  command 
respect  in  the  time  of  their  prosperity  nor  sympathy  in 
the  hour  of  their  decay. 

J74 


These  are  the  qualities  that  stand  the  test  when  Frank 
hurricanes  sweep  by.  These  are  the  joints  of  oak  that  Swett 
ride  the  storm,  and  when  the  clouds  have  melted  and  Black 
the  waves  are  still,  move  on  serenely  in  their  course. 
Other  timbers  have  strewed  the  bottom  of  every  sea  on 
which  the  ship  of  human  government  has  ever  sailed, 
but  not  these.  Times  will  come  when  nothing  but  the 
best  will  save  us.  Without  warning  and  without  cause, 
out  of  a  clear  and  smiling  sky,  may  descend  the  bolt 
that  will  scatter  the  weaker  qualities  to  the  winds. 
We  have  seen  that  bolt  but  recently  descend  and  fill  the 
country  and  the  world  with  universal  grief.  Kings  and 
peasants,  with  a  common  impulse,  the  high  and  low  of 
every  craft  and  creed  and  station  with  human  hearts 
within  their  bosoms  have  bowed  their  heads  to  the 
wave  of  overwhelming  sorrow.  There  is  danger  at  such 
a  time.  The  bolt  has  descended.  The  hurricane  is 
passing  like  the  rushing  of  the  sea.  Now  is  the  time  to 
see  whether  government  and  chaos  can  ever  be  the  same. 
Now  is  the  time  to  see  whether  the  American  character 
can  stand  amid  these  perilous  surroundings.  Now  is 
the  time  when  justice  and  fair  play,  order  and  the  law, 
must  stand  on  guard.  These  are  the  qualities  that  have 
lately  saved  us  from  an  error  which  many  years  would 
not  obliterate. 

If  in  that  awful  wrath  that  recently  inflamed  the 
world,  bewildered  men  had  seized  the  reins  of  law,  there 
is  not  a  pulpit  or  a  cloister  from  end  to  end  of  Christen- 
dom that  would  not  have  devoutly  prayed  that  the  deed 
should  be  forgiven,  but  if  retribution  had  so  come  along 
that  swift  and  fiery  track,  the  cause  of  human  govern- 


175 


Frank  ment  would  have  felt  a  staggering  blow  and  justice 

Swctt  would  have  covered  up  her  face. 

Black  The  American  character  has  been  often  proved 
superior  to  any  test.  No  danger  can  be  so  great  and  no 
calamity  so  sudden  as  to  throw  it  off  its  guard.  This 
great  strength  in  times  of  trial  and  this  self-restraint  in 
times  of  wild  excitement  have  been  attained  by  years  of 
training,  precept  and  experience.  The  fires  of  youth 
have  been  restrained  by  the  admonitions  of  age.  Justice 
has  so  often  emerged  triumphant  from  obstacles  which 
seemed  to  chain  her  limbs  and  make  the  righteous  path 
impossible,  that  there  is  now  rooted  in  the  American 
heart  the  unshaken  faith  that  no  matter  how  dark  the 
night  there  will  somehow  break  through  at  the  appointed 
hour  a  light  which  shall  reveal  to  their  eager  eyes  the 
upright  forms  of  Justice  and  the  Law,  still  moving 
hand  in  hand,  still  supreme  over  chaos  and  despair,  the 
image  and  the  substance  of  the  world's  sublime  reliance. 
To  this  result  the  great  of  every  age  have  made 
their  contribution,  and  on  the  roll  of  honor  near  the 
head  will  stand  his  name  with  which  this  venerated 
institution  is  forever  linked.  And  as  the  years  advance 
and  the  great  figures  of  the  world,  moving  each  day 
farther  toward  the  horizon,  grow  small  and  indistinct, 
the  admiration  of  humanity  will  grow  more  enlightened 
and  profound  for  that  stupendous  frame  which  emerged 
from  that  humble  home  in  Salisbury,  now  at  rest 
forever  under  the  Marshfield  elms. 


176 


Laying  of  the  Corner  Stone.        Laying 

Words  of  the  ^Presiding  Officer.  of  thc 

Corner  Stoc 
HE  trustees  nave  determined  that  this  building, 

dedicated  to  the  preservation  of  the  past  and 
the  active  uses  of  the  present  and  future,  shall 
bear  the  name  of  her  greatest  son  and  be  forever  known 
as  Webster  Hall.  Within  this  stone  which  is  about  to  be 
put  in  place,  there  have  been  deposited  the  following 
memorials  : 
Volume  of  "The  Great  Speeches  and  Orations  of  Daniel 

Webster,"  used  as  text-book  in  Dartmouth  College. 
Photograph  from  daguerreotype  of  Daniel  Webster. 
Ten   cent    postage    stamp,   being  portrait   of    Daniel 

Webster. 
Program  of  Webster  Centennial,  Dartmouth    College, 

1901. 

General  Catalogue  of  Dartmouth  College,  1900. 
Annual  Catalogue  of  Dartmouth  College,  1900-1901. 
Catalogue  of  portraits  in  gallery  of  Dartmouth  College. 
Views  of  the  principal  buildings  of  Dartmouth  College. 
Inaugural  address  of  President  Tucker,  June  28,  1893. 
Last  number  of  The  Dartmouth. 
Last  number  of  the  Dartmouth  Magazine. 

It  is  fitting  that  the  chief  block  in  the  foundation 
of  this  building  should  be  laid  by  a  lineal  descendant  of 
the  man  whose  memory  is  here  to  be  preserved  in  en- 
during stone.  That  service  will  now  be  performed  by 
Lewis  Addison  Armistead  of  Boston,  a  great  grandson  of 
Daniel  Wrebster. 

The  corner-stone  having  been  placed  in  position, 
under  direction  of  Alexander  Anderson  McKenzie,  '91, 

177 


Laying  Engineer  in  Charge,  Mr.  Armistead  addressing  the  presi- 
of  the  dent  and  trustees  of  the  College  said,  "Mr.  President,  I 
Corner  Stone  hereby  pronounce    the    corner-stone  of   Webster  Hall 
laid." 


Exercises  in  tHe  Old  Chapel. 


MMEDIATELY  after  the  exercises  following  the 
laying  of  the  corner-stone  a  considerable  part  of 
the  audience  proceeded  to  the  Old  Chapel  to 
listen  to  reminiscences  of  Mr.  Webster  by  some  of  the 
older  graduates  and  guests. 

The  Honorable  Stephen  Moody  Crosby,  '49,  who 
had  personal  knowledge  of  Mr.  Webster,  and  was  famil- 
iar with  the  circumstances  of  Mr.  Webster's  life  and 
career,  presided. 

Words  of  the  Presiding  Officer. 

There  are  not  many  of  us  left  now  that  can  remem- 
ber having  seen  Mr.  Webster  in  his  prime,  and  if  the  lips 
which  must  soon  be  closed  in  that  silence  which  knows 
no  breaking  do  not  speak  now  it  will  not  be  possible 
for  those  who  are  younger  to  hear  anything  which  shall 
come  direct  from  men  who  knew  the  man  in  whose 
honor  we  meet  to-day.  Perhaps  you  will  excuse  me  if 
I  open,  as  no  list  of  speakers  has  been  furnished  me.  I 
have  had  no  intimation  from  more  than  one  or  two 
members  that  they  would  be  prepared  or  would  have 
anything  to  say.  I  shall  go  a-fishing,  therefore,  for 
speakers,  and  I  only  hope  I  shall  so  bait  my  hook  that 
I  shall  not  fail  to  make  a  catch  wherever  I  throw  out 
my  line. 

in 


Personally  I  may  say,  as  a  brilliant  young  female  Reminiscences 
member  of  my  family  who,  perhaps,  is  present  here  to-  of  Mr.  Webster 
day  and  who  will,  perhaps,  correct  me,  said,  "I  was 
brought  up  on  Daniel  Webster. ' '  I  had  him  for  dinner 
when  I  was  a  boy,  and  had  him  cold  for  supper,  and 
warmed  over  in  the  morning  for  breakfast.  My  mater- 
nal grandfather  came  into  New  Hampshire  in  the  clos- 
ing years  of  the  eighteenth  century,  and  established 
himself  in  the  practice  of  law  about  the  time  that  Mr. 
Webster  graduated.  He  knew  Mr.  Webster  through 
the  early  years  of  his  practice  at  the  New  Hampshire 
bar,  while  he  was  a  rising  lawyer,  and  knew  him  until 
he  transferred  his  allegiance  to  the  Massachusetts  bar. 
The  acquaintance  then  made  was  continued  through 
life,  and  Mr.  Webster  was  an  occasional  visitant  at  my 
grandfather's  house.  I  never  saw  him  there.  But  I 
heard  the  stories  of  him  which  were  innumerable,  and,  I 
have  no  doubt,  thoroughly  reliable.  Many  of  them  re- 
lated to  the  early  days,  and  to  the  peculiarities  of  his 
disposition  and  character,  some  of  which  are  now 
doubted,  and  some  of  which  had  better,  perhaps,  never 
be  repeated. 

Something  has  been  said  recently  about  his  indo- 
lence of  habits.  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  so  far  as 
active,  useful,  physical  exertion  was  concerned,  what- 
ever he  may  have  liked  to  do  as  a  fisherman  or  a  hunter, 
in  regard  to  active  physical  exertion,  I  am  inclined  to 
think  he  was  a  great  adept  at  avoiding  it.  The  old  story 
which  I  heard  long  before  I  realized  its  value,  of  the 
scythe,  when  he  was  sent  out  by  his  father  to  help  the 
mowers,  of  the  scythe  which  could  not  be  made  to 
"hang"  to  suit  him  until  he  hung  it  over  the  limbs  of 

179 


Reminiscences  the  historic  apple-tree  I  do  not  doubt.  Neither  have  I 
of  Mr.  Webster  any  reason  to  doubt  the  story  that  when  he  was  called 
to  account  for  what  he  might  have  done  in  connection 
with  his  brother  who  had  been  charged  with  certain 
duties  during  the  father's  absence,  and  the  brother  hav- 
ing confessed  to  having  done  nothing,  Daniel  claimed  to 
have  spent  his  time  helping  that  brother:  "Been 
a-helpin'  Zeke,  father."  I  have  no  doubt  that  that  is 
correct  also. 

In  after  years,  the  first  time  I  remember  to  have 
heard  Webster  I  was  a  boy  thirteen  or  fourteen  per- 
haps, when  he  returned  from  the  Tyler  Cabinet  at  Wash- 
ington in  political  disgrace,  to  his  friends  in  Massachu- 
setts. The  political  story  need  not  be  repeated,  but  he 
came  back  to  Boston  and  the  cold  shoulder  was  turned 
towards  him  with  almost  none  to  do  him  honor.  A  meet- 
ing was  arranged  in  Faneuil  Hall  in  order  that  he  might 
make  his  statement  as  to  why  he  had  stayed  in  Tyler's 
Cabinet.  My  father  who  was  a  life-long  admirer  and 
lover  of  Daniel  Webster  took  me  there  as  a  boy  to  serve 
out  to  me  a  part  of  that  diet  of  Webster.  I  remember 
the  crush,  I  remember  only  as  a  boy  how  my  father  got 
up  with  me  into  a  place  near  the  platform.  I  remember 
the  crowd  and  my  difficulty  in  seeing  over  the  heads  of 
the  men  who  thronged  that  hall.  I  remember  when 
Mr.  Webster  came  upon  the  stage  in  his  magnificent 
court  dress,  which  he  always  wore  on  state  occasions — 
not  as  it  was  mimicked  here  last  evening  with  buff 
trousers  and  a  coat  of  black,  but  a  magnificent  figure  of 
a  man  who  looked  as  Carlyle  said  of  him,  like  a 
cathedral.  He  came  to  the  front  when  it  was  his  turn 
to  speak,  and  some  one  called  for  three  cheers  and  they 

(80 


were  not  given.  One  of  them  was  given,  the  second  Reminiscences 
failed  in  the  attempt,  nor  was  there  any  hand-clapping  of  Mr.  Webster 
that  would  ordinarily  be  bestowed  upon  a  man  so 
prominent.  His  eyes  absolutely  blazed.  They  looked 
to  me  like  two  ship-lights  at  sea.  He  began  his  speech 
in  a  calm  conversational  tone,  and  went  on  for  a  little 
while  to  tell  the  happenings  in  Washington  following 
the  death  of  Harrison.  Enlarging  a  little,  he  went  on  to 
say  in  more  earnest  tones  that  his  purpose  was  to  tell 
the  people  there  present  the  history  of  the  administration 
and  the  reasons  why  certain  things  were  done  in  the 
way  they  were  done,  but  that  as  for  him — and  I  wish  I 
could  recall  the  precise  words  as  he  drew  himself  up  and 
said — "If  there  are  any  gentlemen  here  who  expect  to 
hear  from  my  lips  a  word  of  explanation  or  apology  for 
my  remaining  in  the  cabinet  of  John  Tyler,  they  are 
likely  to  go  home  as  wise  as  they  came,"  and  he  roared 
it  out  through  the  hall  in  such  a  way  that  he  dominated 
that  great  audience,  and  they  gave  him  three  cheers. 
Before  the  close  of  the  evening — he  spoke  about 
an  hour  and  a  half — they  almost  lifted  the  roof  with 
their  cheers  and  hand-clapping,  and  when  the  speech 
was  ended  they  closed  with  cheers  again.  It  made  a 
great  impression  upon  me  as  a  boy.  I  did  not  under- 
stand it  fully,  but  the  marvelous  power  of  the  man  so  to 
dominate  and  control  that  audience  was  a  thing  which 
I  never  shall  forget,  and  which  I  never  have  seen  before 
or  since  in  any  orator. 

I  occasionally  saw  him  on  the  street,  that  mag- 
nificent presence  of  his,  walking  on  Washington  Street, 
looking  neither  to  the  right  nor  to  the  left,  and  followed 
everywhere  by  a  train  of  admiring  people,  or  else 


Reminiscences  everybody  stopping  to  gaze  and  look  after  him  when  he 
of  Mr.  Webster  nad  passed.  Again  I  saw  him  when  he  came  up  to 
Lebanon  below  here,  at  the  opening  of  the  Northern 
Railroad  in  1847.  He  made  a  speech  there,  in  the 
freight  house  or  in  an  extemporized  building,  congratu- 
lating the  State  and  the  people  at  large  upon  the  opening 
of  that  great  artery  of  commerce.  It  was  not  anything 
to  draw  out  his  powers,  his  great  powers  of  speech,  and 
I  have  no  recollection  of  his  speech  except  as  to  the 
dense  crowd  and  his  effective  manner. 

Again  I  saw  him  the  last  year  of  his  life  when 
he  was  feeble,  broken,  when  he  came  to  Boston,  and 
some  kind  of  an  ovation  was  tendered  him.  He  really 
was  not  well  enough  to  speak  at  all,  though  he  did 
attempt  to  make  a  speech,  which  made  so  little  im- 
pression upon  me  that  I  think  it  must  have  been  a 
pitiable  sort  of  an  exhibition  of  a  broken  down,  feeble, 
infirm  man. 

Of  course  I  came  up  here  to  hear  that  magnificent 
eulogy  which  Rufus  Choate  pronounced  upon  him  in  the 
College  Church;  the  music  and  the  magnificent  oratory 
of  that  day  and  hour  I  still  remember  very  vividly. 
Allusions  have  been  made  to  it  two  or  three  times  in 
the  exercises  here  in  the  last  two  days,  and  it  deserved 
everything  in  the  way  of  commendation  that  has  been 
bestowed  upon  it. 

There  is  another  reminiscence  in  connection  with 
Webster  that  occurs  to  me  now,  and  that  is  of  a  character 
which  would  once,  perhaps,  have  possessed  some  signifi- 
cance. If  there  are  any  among  the  older  alumni  here 
who  remember  my  father,  they  will  know  if  there  ever 
was  a  man  upon  whom  anything  li^e  superstition  made 

(82 


no  kind  of  impress,  it  was  he.     Nothing  disturbed  him  Reminiscences 

that  was  apparently  out  of  the  natural   order.     What-  of  Mr.  Webster 

ever  was,  had  a  reason,  had  a  cause,  had  some  distinct 

purpose,  but  that  there  was  ever  anything  supernatural 

about  it,  anything  out  of  the  ordinary,  never  found  a 

rest  in  his  heart  for  a  moment.     But  this  thing  he  used 

to  tell  as  a  curious  coincidence.     He  was  very  much 

interested  in  regard  to  the  sickness  of  Mr.  Webster,  and 

was  receiving  news  every  day,  as  it  was  furnished  by 

the   telegraph  to  the  papers,  of  Mr.  Webster's  failing 

condition.     One  morning  he  awoke  suddenly  and  spoke 

to  my  mother.     He  said,  "Did  you  speak?" 

"No." 

"Well,  somebody  touched  me  on  the  shoulder,  I 
thought,  and  said  to  me,  'Mr.  Webster  is  passing 
away.'  " 

Well,  she  laughed  at  him.  "You  dreamed  it.  You 
have  thought  so  much  on  that  the  last  few  days  that 
that  is  not  strange.  You  have  been  dreaming." 

He  looked  at  his  watch  and  saw  what  the  time 
was,  and  simply  made  a  note  of  it.  When  the  papers 
came  that  day  he  found  that  Mr.  Webster  had  passed 
away  at  that  time  and  hour  and  almost  moment.  He 
told  the  story  as  a  curious  coincidence.  I  do  not  believe 
that  it  ever  affected  him  or  disturbed  him  as  anything 
that  was  out  of  the  ordinary,  or  that  had  the  slightest 
touch  of  what  we  should  call  now  by  some  of  the  modern 
names,  such  as  mind  reading,  or  hypnotism,  or  Christian 
Science,  or  something  of  the  kind,  but  it  was  the  last 
reminiscence  which  lingered  in  my  mind  in  regard  to 
Daniel  Webster. 


J83 


Reminiscences          Now  having  made  my  little  speech  and  having,  as  I 

r    •w  jr         TY7     L     i. 

:r  say,  no  list  whatever  of  speakers  who  are  here  I  must 
call  at  random.  I  should  like  to  know  if  Judge  Cross 
of  the  class  of  '41  is  in  the  Chapel. 

Judge  Ttatid  Cross,  LL.  T>.,  '41. 

I  do  n't  think  this  is  fair,  Mr.  President.  I  wandered 
about  this  building  and  looked  into  the  door  and  asked 
a  man  if  I  could  get  in  behind  him  so  that  they  would 
not  see  me,  and  so  that  I  could  hear  somebody  speak, 
and  I  crawled  in,  thinking  and  hoping  that  I  should  not 
be  called  upon.  Besides,  Mr.  President,  I  have  agreed 
to  say  something  this  evening  and  you  ought  not  to 
expect  me  to  say  anything  here,  but  I  am  here,  and  I 
am  not  going  to  back  out. 

You  suggested  that,  perhaps,  there  were  but  few 
that  knew  Daniel  Webster  or  that  saw  him.  Well,  I 
hope  there  are  some.  You  thought  that  I  had,  perhaps. 
In  1840  there  was  a  Whig  convention  or  a  Whig  meet- 
ing at  Orford,  and  I,  a  collegian,  went  with  the  rest. 
Daniel  \Vebster  was  announced  to  speak.  He  did  not 
come  until  late  and  there  was  no  one  there  to  talk. 
After  inquiring  around  we  had  a  young  man  in  college 
then  that  we  thought  was  the  smartest  speaker  that 
there  was  in  the  country,  and  we  all  hurrahed  for  Jim 
Barrett.  And  Jim  Barrett  took  the  stand.  He  made  a 
speech  from  half  an  hour  to  an  hour  in  length.  Daniel 
Webster  came  on  afterwards,  and  we  all  voted  that  Jim 
Barrett  beat  him. 

Now,  I  heard  Daniel  Webster  on  that  occasion. 
I  heard  him  in  court  in  Boston.  I  heard  him  in  Man- 
chester. I  heard  him  in  the  Senate  of  the  United 

J84 


States.     I  heard  him  on  several  occasions,  but  the  only  Jfatfafaggaf 
occasion  which  clings  to  my  memory  is  that   of   the  of  j^  "Webster 
completion  of    Bunker  Hill   Monument.     I  was  then  a 
student  in  the  Law  School  of  Harvard,  and  went   with 
the  students  so  that  we  had  a  good  position  not  far 
from  the  speaker. 

Mr.  Webster  stood  with  his  back  to  the  monument, 
with  fifty  thousand  or  more  people  to  the  front  and  on 
the  sides  of  him.  I  saw  Daniel  Webster  as  he  stood 
upon  the  platform.  I  have  him  in  my  mind's  eye  now 
as  he  was  with  his  back  to  the  monument  with  the  fifty 
thousand  people  before  him.  I  heard  him  for  an  hour 
or  more.  The  words  of  that  speech  have  gone  from 
me,  but  yet  I  remember  him  most  clearly  and  distinctly 
as  he  stood  there.  I  cannot  tell  the  words.  I  shall  not 
be  able  to  give  you  an  idea  of  it,  perhaps,  but  as  he 
stood  before  us  he  turned  his  face  to  the  monument, 
his  back  to  us,  and  said,  apostrophizing  that  monu- 
ment, "That  is  the  orator  of  the  day."  I  will  not 
attempt  to  give  his  words,  but  the  thrill  that  went 
through  that  audience,  the  thrill  as  I  felt  it  at  that 
hour  has  been  with  me  from  that  hour  to  this.  That 
was  a  Websterian  hour.  It  was  an  hour  such  as  was 
seen  in  the  Dartmouth  College  Case,  in  the  Knapp  Case, 
and  in  the  other  cases  alluded  to  to-day.  As  I  have 
journeyed  through  the  city  of  Boston  since  then,  as  I 
have  looked  at  that  stone  monument,  I  do  not  know 
how  it  is,  but  every  time  I  pass  that  monument  it  seems 
to  speak  to  me.  I  cannot  help  it.  The  thrill  goes 
through  my  veins  as  it  did  in  1843.  That  monument  to 
me  is  alive.  It  speaks  to  me  in  thoughts  that  Webster 
breathed  and  words  that  Webster  gave  us.  Friends, 

(85 


Reminiscences  that  hour  was  worth  a  lifetime  almost  to  me.  It  was  a 
of  Mr.  Webster  thrill  such  as  I  never  felt  before  nor  since.  I  have 
listened  to  Henry  Clay  in  the  United  States  Senate,  to 
Rufus  Choate  in  his  eulogy,  and  I  have  heard  Choate 
before  the  jury,  and  other  men,  but  never  on  any  other 
occasion  has  such  a  thrill  run  through  me  as  then. 

But,  fellow  alumni,  you  have  heard  of  Webster's 
statesmanship,  of  his  great  ability  as  a  lawyer.  We 
have  heard  of  them  all.  They  have  been  talked  and 
printed  and  preached  about,  but  as  I  come  back  here  to- 
day, my  thoughts,  although  I  have  heard  much  of  Dan- 
iel Webster,  go  back  to  that  Salisbury  home.  I  re- 
member him  in  thought  as  a  young  man.  You,  most 
of  you,  look  upon  him  as  a  historical  person,  but  let  us 
realize  that  he  was  a  New  Hampshire  boy,  with  New 
Hampshire  affections,  that  he  lived  at  the  parental  man- 
sion in  his  younger  years  as  a  New  Hampshire  boy. 
You  remember  that  time  when  he  rode  with  his  father. 
I  don't  remember  whether  it  has  been  told  here  to-day. 
Perhaps  it  has,  and  perhaps  it  has  not,  but  you  have 
read  of  that  hour  when  his  father  disclosed  to  him  on 
his  way  to  Rev.  Mr.  Wood  his  intention  to  send  him  to 
college.  You  remember  that  Daniel  Webster  then  fell 
upon  his  father's  neck  and  cried  as  a  child.  That  was  the 
Webster  boy  ;  that  was  the  Webster  man.  You  remem- 
ber when  his  brother  Ezekiel  wished  to  go  to  college  and 
his  father  had  not  the  means,  how  he  went  to  Frye- 
burg  and  taught  school  and  saved  his  three  hundred 
dollars  and  gave  it  to  his  brother  Ezekiel,  and  sent  him 
to  college.  Where  is  the  young  man  or  boy  that  has 
done  that  for  a  brother?  Where  among  the  college 
students  have  I  found  one  that  has  made  a  sacrifice 

186 


such  as  that  ?     Talk   of    Daniel   Webster  as   a  states-  Reminiscences 
man  and   a  great  lawyer.      He  was  also  a  great  brother  of  Mr.  Webster 
that  gave  to  his  brother  the  means  to  help  him  through 
college.      Daniel  Webster  was  great  as  a  statesman,  but 
greater  as  a  New  Hampshire  man,  as  a  brother,  and  as 
a  true  man. 

The  Chairman  :  Judge  Cross  alluded  to  Mr.  Web- 
ster's kindness  of  heart  and  to  his  affection.  That  brings 
to  my  mind  a  fact  of  which  I  was  informed  not  long 
since  that  there  is  here  to-day  the  original  of  a  letter 
which  he  wrote  when  a  member  of  Congress  to  the  father 
of  a  fellow  member  of  Congress,  Mr.  Cilley,  of  New 
Hampshire,  who,  you  remember  was  killed  in  a  duel  at 
Washington.  That  letter  was  written  to  the  father  of 
his  deceased  fellow  member,  and  it  expresses  the  same 
kindness  and  regard  for  his  fellows  which  you  would 
expect  from  a  boy  who  grew  up  from  the  youth  which 
Judge  Cross  has  pictured  to  us.  Mr.  Cilley,  Brother 
Cilley,  alumnus  of  the  class  of  1863,  has  that  letter  in 
his  possession,  and  I  should  like  to  have  him  produce  it 
and  read  it  to  this  gathering. 

Mr.  Horatio  Gates  Cilley,  '63  :  It  is  indeed  true 
that  my  brother  and  myself  have  this  letter  in  our  pos- 
session, but  on  this  trip  I  was  obliged  to  come  by  way 
of  White  River  Junction,  and  I  have  not  the  original 
with  me.  With  your  permission  I  have  turned  the 
letter  over  to  Dr.  Cilley  of  Boston,  of  the  class  of  '68, 
who  will  read  it  to  you. 

Dr.  Orren  George  Cilley,  A.  M.,  '68  :  We  have 
been  hearing  for  the  last  two  hours  about  the  meritori- 
ous acts  of  Daniel  Webster,  his  peculiarities,  his  habits, 
his  law,  his  oratory,  and,  in  fact,  of  everything  that  is 

J87 


Reminiscences  good.  Still  no  one  that  I  have  heard  has  said  anything 
of  Mr.  Webster  jn  particular  about  his  large  and  generous  heart.  They 
have  not  said  anything  of  the  time  when  he  was  in  his 
home,  when  his  mind  recurred  to  those  people,  friends 
who  were  in  trouble,  and  how  he  sat  down  and  wrote 
them  letters,  the  like  of  which  I  will  read  to  you.  I 
have  in  my  pocket  the  original  of  the  letter.  It  is  badly 
broken  and  I  will  with  your  permission  read  a  copy  of 
it. 

Dr.  Cilley  then  read  a  typewritten  copy  of  the 
original  letter. 

2>r.  Jabez  Baxter  Upham,cA.  cM.t  '49. 
(Prepared  for  the  occasion  but  not  spoken.) 

Although  without  any  personal  acquaintance  with 
Mr.  Webster,  it  has  been  my  good  fortune  to  have  seen 
and  heard  him  in  some  of  his  most  eloquent  and  power- 
ful speeches. 

The  first  occasion  of  this  kind  which  I  recall  was  in 
the  autumn  of  1840,  at  Orford  in  this  state,  in  the 
memorable  campaign  of  Harrison  and  Tyler — "Of  Tip- 
pecanoe  and  Tyler  too,"  as  we  boys  used  to  phrase  it 
in  our  college  songs.  There  was  great  enthusiasm 
amongst  us  at  that  time,  for,  then  as  now,  a  very  large 
majority  of  the  students  of  the  College  were  on  the  side 
of  the  Whigs,  as  the  party  was  termed.  It  would  be 
called  the  Republican  party  to-day,  I  suppose. 

The  morning,  as  I  remember  it,  dawned  fair  and 
clear — one  of  those  typical  October  days  of  which  this 
favored  region  has  its  full  complement.  The  whole 
College  was  early  astir,  and,  with  appropriate  mottoes 
and  banners,  prepared  themselves  to  march,  by  classes, 

(88 


along  the  dusty  road  to  the  scene  of  action  fifteen  miles  Reminiscences 
away.  The  sun  waxed  hot  as  the  day  wore  on,  and  of  Mr.  Webstet 
the  march  was  a  weary  one  ;  but,  in  accordance  with 
the  spirit  of  the  time,  there  were  plenty  of  refreshments 
and  hird  cider  in  abundance  proffered  us  by  the  hospit- 
able inhabitants  on  the  route — for  those  were  the  days 
when  "log  cabin  and  hard  cider''  was  the  party  cry.  I 
do  not  know  how  the  faculty  and  the  honored  head  of 
the  College  would  regard  it  now,  but  it  was  then  deemed 
the  patriotic  and  proper  thing  to  imbibe  freely  of  that 
beverage,  in  order  to  show  our  loyalty  to  the  presidential 
candidate. 

As  to  the  speech — well  I  must  confess  that  the 
majority  of  us  were  too  weary  and  exhausted  by  the  long 
march,  and  its  unwonted  accompaniments,  to  have  given 
such  heed  to  it  as  we  ought.  As  I  recall  it,  it  was  a 
masterly  exposition  of  the  principles  which  pervaded 
and  governed  the  party  in  whose  interest  it  was  pro- 
nounced. 

Mr.  Everett  has  said,  in  his  biographical  memoir, 
that,  during  this  canvass  of  1840 — which  he  designates 
as  the  most  strenuous  ever  witnessed  in  the  United 
States, — Mr.  Webster  gave  himself  up  for  months  to 
what  might  literally  be  called  the  arduous  labors  of  the 

field Not  only  in  Massachusetts  and  in  New 

Hampshire,  but  in  distant  places,  ranging  from  Albany 
to  Richmond,  his  voice  of  encouragement  and  exhorta- 
tion was  heard. 

I  have  sought  in  vain  for  any  written  or  printed 
record  of  this  speech,  and  of  the  many  others  spoken  by 
Mr.  Webster  during  that  campaign,  but  have  failed  to 
find  them  ;  and  I  doubt  if  they  were  ever  reported  by 

J89 


Reminiscences  the  press.  But,  whatever  may  have  been  the  scope  and 
of  Mr.  Webster  substance  of  this  particular  speech,  I  shall  never  forget 
the  impression  made  upon  me,  as  I  saw  and  felt,  for  the 
first  time,  the  mighty  presence  of  the  man. 

No  one,  in  signifying  the  speeches  of  Mr.  Webster, 
can  fail  to  allude  to  his  great  argument  in  reply  to 
Hayne,  made  in  the  United  States  Senate  in  1830, 
wherein  he  darkly  prophesied  the  approach  of  the  irre- 
pressible conflict  which,  thirty  years  later,  involved  the 
country  in  Civil  War. 

I  was  not  old  enough  then,  if  you  can  credit  the 
assertion, to  have  taken  in  understandingly  the  scope  and 
power  of  that  memorable  speech,  if  I  had  been  present 
at  its  delivery,  which  I  was  not. 

I  well  remember  that  my  honored  father,  who  was 
a  friend  and  ardent  admirer  of  Mr.  Webster,  once  said  to 
me,  in  one  of  my  college  vacations,  "My  boy,  it  has 
been  my  custom  in  every  return  of  the  anniversary  of 
that  speech,  to  take  down  my  copy  of  the  National  In- 
telligencer, which  contains  it,  and  read  it  through  from 
beginning  to  end,  and  I  advise  you  to  do  the  same  as 
long  as  you  live."  I  regret  to  say  that,  in  this  as  in  so 
many  other  instances,  I  have  failed  to  follow  his  wise 
counsel. 

I  may  be  permitted  to  relate  here  an  incident  that 
befell  me  personally,  having  some  relation  to  that 
speech.  When  in  Charleston,  S.  C.,  some  twelve  or 
fifteen  years  ago,  I  visited  the  Ancient  Church  of  St. 
Michael,  in  that  city,  and,  falling  in  with  the  venerable 
sexton,  who  had  been  connected  with  the  church  in 
that  capacity  for  half  a  century  and  more,  and  who 
seemed  to  be  a  part  of  the  structure  itself,  I  strolled  out 

J90 


tinder    his    guidance,  into    the   adjacent    churchyard.  Reminiscences 
While  wandering  about  among  the  old  graves,  my  eye  of  Mr.  Webster 
rested  on  a  tomb  bearing  the  inscription, 
u  ROBERT  Y.  HAYNE," 

with  the  date  of  his  birth  and  death.  Being  struck  by 
the  fact  that  he  died  at  an  age  when  he  might  be  sup- 
posed to  be  in  the  full  possession  of  his  powers,  I  in- 
quired of  my  cicerone  the  cause  of  his  comparatively 
early  death.  Drawing  himself  up,  and  looking  me  full 
in  the  face,  he  replied, 

"He  died  of  Webster's  speech,  sir." 
Another  opportunity  I  had  of  hearing  Mr.  Webster 
at  his  best,  was  at  the  dinner  given  to  him  by  the  Asso- 
ciation of  the  Sons  of  New  Hampshire  resident  in 
Massachusetts,  in  November,  1849.  This  took  place  in 
the  large  hall  over  the  Fitchburg  R.  R.  depot  in  Bos- 
ton. The  vast  auditorium  was  crowded  to  its  utmost 
capacity.  Mr.  Webster,  who  was  president  of  the  As- 
sociation, presided  also  at  the  feast.  I  happened  to  be 
one  of  the  marshals  on  that  occasion,  and  my  place 
was  on  the  floor  immediately  in  front  of  the  speaker. 
Mr.  Webster  made  two  speeches  during  the  evening,  one 
of  which  has  been  termed  his  Kossuth  Speech,  wherein 
he  arraigned,  in  scathing  words,  the  then  Emperor  of 
Russia  for  his  demand  on  the  Sultan  of  Turkey  that  the 
noble  Kossuth  and  his  companions  be  delivered  up  to  be 
dealt  with  at  his  pleasure. 

Those  who  heard  him  will  never  forget  those  burn- 
ing words,  when,  rising  to  the  full  height  of  his  majes- 
tic personality,  he  said,  "Gentlemen,  there  is  something 
on  earth  greater  than  arbitrary  or  despotic  powers.  The 
lightning  has  its  power  and  the  whirlwind  has  its  power, 

J9J 


Reminiscences  and  the  earthquake  has  its  power  ;  but  there  is  some- 
of  Mr.  Webster  thing  among  men  more  capable  of  shaking  despotic 
thrones  than  lightning,  whirlwind,  or  earthquake,  and 
that  is  the  aroused  and  excited  indignation  of  the  whole 
civilized  world.  The  Emperor  of  Russia,"  he  con- 
tinued, "is  the  supreme  lawgiver  in  his  own  realms, 
and,  for  aught  I  know,  he  is  the  executor  of  that  law, 
also.  But,  thanks  be  to  God,  he  is  not  the  supreme 
lawgiver  and  executor  of  national  law,  and  every  offence 
against  that  is  an  offence  against  the  rights  of  the  civil- 
ized world." 

The  effect  of  this  impassioned  outburst  of  eloquence 
was  overwhelming.  The  whole  vast  audience  rose  to 
its  feet  as  one  man,  and  the  acclamations  and  ap- 
plause which  followed,  loud  and  long-continued,  seemed 
as  though  it  would  raise  the  very  roof  of  the  building. 

As  to  the  famous  Seventh  of  March  Speech,  so- 
called,  I  did  not  hear  it,  but  I  have  read  it  many  times, 
and  have  studied  it  attentively,  and  I,  for  one,  do  not 
see  how  Mr.  Webster  could  consistently  with  the  whole 
course  and  conduct  of  his  life,  have  done  otherwise  than 
take  just  the  stand  he  then  did.  Commenting  on  that 
important  speech,  an  eminent  authority  has  justly  said, 
"It  is  believed  that,  by  the  majority  of  patriotic  and 
reflecting  citizens  in  every  part  of  the  United  States  it 
has  been  regarded  as  holding  out  a  basis  for  the  adjust- 
ment of  controversies  which  had  already  gone  far  to 
dissolve  the  Union,  and  cculd  not  much  farther  be  pur- 
sued without  producing  that  result."  Mr.  Webster  saw 
the  difficulties  incident  to  the  step  he  had  adopted,  and 
knew  full  well  the  risk  to  his  political  fortunes  which 
he  incurred  by  his  utterances,  but  he  believed  that, 

192 


unless  some  such  step  was  taken  in  the  North,  the  sep-  Reminiscences 
aration  of   the  States   was  inevitable.     What  he  then  of  Mr.  Webster 
foresaw,  many  of  those  here  present  have  lived  to  experi- 
ence and  to  know. 

In  his  speech  at  his  reception  on  Boston  Common 
in  the  summer  of  1852,  in  evident  allusion  to  his 
Seventh  of  March  Speech,  which  has  caused  so  much 
discussion,  and  dissension,  and  contention,  both  among 
his  friends  and  his  enemies,  Mr.  Webster  uttered  these 
memorable  words,  "My  manner  of  political  life  is  known 
to  you  all  ...  I  leave  it  to  my  country  and  to  the  world 
whether  it  will  or  will  not  stand  the  test  of  time  and 
truth."  This  was  spoken  on  the  ninth  day  of  July,  1852, 
and,  so  far  as  I  know,  it  was  the  last  utterance  he  ever 
made  in  public.  A  little  more  than  three  months  after- 
wards he  passed  away.  It  was  my  melancholy  privi- 
lege, at  the  head  of  a  thousand  of  the  Sons  of  New 
Hampshire,  to  join  in  the  funeral  march  of  that  vast 
concourse  of  his  fellow  citizens  of  the  city  of  Boston, 
which  thronged  its  streets  and  crowded  its  thoroughfares, 
to  manifest  their  grief  and  sorrow  at  his  death. 

Once  before,  in  the  century  which  has  just  closed,  I 
have  been  permitted  to  participate  in  a  great  centennial 
celebration  of  our  beloved  Alma  Mater.  I  allude,  of 
course,  to  the  hundredth  anniversary  of  the  founding  of 
the  College;  and  I  am  one  of  the  very  few  of  the  sur- 
vivors of  those  who  were  gathered  on  the  platform  on 
that  memorable  occasion.  I  am  now  nearing  the  time 
when,  in  the  course  of  Nature,  I  may  expect  to  go 
down  into  my  not  unwelcome  grave  ;  but  I  thank  God 
that  I  am  spared  to  behold  the  rising  sun  of  this  auspi- 
cious day,  on  which  the  head  of  our  most  distinguished 

J93 


Reminiscences  alumnus,  and  greatest  among  the  Sons  of  New  Hamp- 
of  Mr.  Webster  shire,  is  encircled  with  the  halo  of  a  hundred  years.  It 
is  a  day  never  to  be  forgotten  in  the  annals  of  the  Col- 
lege ;  and  when  that  corner-stone,  which  has  just  been 
laid  with  so  much  pomp  and  ceremony,  and  the  impos- 
ing structure  which  is  to  be  reared  upon  it,  shall  have 
crumbled  to  dust,  the  memory  of  this  first  centennial 
anniversary  of  the  graduation  of  our  illustrious  brother 
will  still  be  green. — The  light  of  this  day  shall  shine 
along  the  pathway  of  the  ages,  so  long  as  time  en- 
dures. 

The  Chairman  :  There  is  another  alumnus,  I 
hope,  here  present  to-day,  who,  I  know,  is  full  of  in- 
formation about  Mr.  Webster,  who  has  been  a  life- 
long admirer  of  him,  and  who  has  heard  and  seen  him 
many  times.  If  Mr.  Senter,  of  the  class  of  '48,  is  in 
the  Chapel,  will  he  be  kind  enough  to  come  to  the  plat- 
form? 

The  Reverend  Oramel  Stevens  Senter,  '48. 

I  could  wish,  dear  brethren  and  alumni,  and  invited 
guests,  that  I  had  come  before  you  in  a  very  different 
state  of  health.  It  was  very  doubtful  whether  I  could 
come  at  all,  but  the  attraction  was  so  great  once  more 
to  meet  friends  of  Dartmouth  College  on  the  old  camp- 
ing ground,  that  my  physician  said,  "I  think  you  can 
go.  It  may  do  you  good." 

My  first  view  of  Mr.  Webster  was  in  1840  at  the 
convention  that  my  friend  presiding  refers  to.  I  formed 
a  very  different  opinion  of  Mr.  Webster's  address  at  that 
time.  It  was  a  cool  day  in  the  last  of  September  or  the 
early  days  of  October,  and  he  kept  his  hat  on.  Almost 
anything  was  dignified  in  Mr.  Webster,  even  the  big 

J94 


brass  buttons  and  the  hat  and  buff  trousers,  but  you  Reminiscences 
remember  it  is  not  every  man  that  can  be  a  Webster,  of  Mr.  Webster 
He  made  very  few  gestures  on  that  occasion.  He  made 
a  plain,  cogent,  logical  statement  of  the  principles  and 
policy  of  the  great  Whig  party.  A  nobler  party  never 
existed  in  this  country  ;  it  had  m  it  the  brightest  minds 
and  the  best  men  that  America  ever  produced ;  it  was 
then  in  its  glory.  Mr.  Webster  first  stated  the  princi- 
ples of  the  party  clearly,  and  then  referred  to  the 
Democratic  party,  and  Silas  Wright's  great  feat  at 
Watertown.  I  remember  it  as  if  it  were  yesterday,  as 
the  best  authority  in  regard  to  the  real  principles  of  the 
Democratic  party. 

Mr.  Webster  was  not  a  man  that  wasted  powder  on 
any  occasion.  He  suited  the  charge  to  the  game  before 
him.  It  was  only  on  great  and  exciting  occasions  like 
the  Dartmouth  Case,  and  in  the  reply  to  Hayne  that  he 
was  wrought  up  to  so  high  a  pitch  as  to  indulge  in 
flights  of  oratory  ;  but  when  he  did  rise,  it  was  like  the 
crest  of  the  wave;  you  could  no  more  check  it  than  you 
could  check  the  rising  tide  in  the  ocean. 

The  next  time  I  saw  him  was  in  1843, 1  think  here 
in  Hanover.  There  were  Webster,  Choate,  Chase, 
Amos  Kendall,  and  I  think  Thaddeus  Stevens,  while 
various  distinguished  gentlemen  who  were  not  graduates 
were  invited.  I  had  not  entered  college  then,  for  I  was  a 
sub-freshman,  expecting  to  be  a  freshman  at  some  time. 
I  said  to  my  companion,  "I  wish  to  go  and  get  a  look  at 
Daniel  Webster";  I  had  heard  him  called  the  Godlike 
Daniel,  and  I  wanted  to  see  whether  .his  looks  warranted 
such  a  designation,  and  so  we  went  and  there  we  sat. 
I  shall  never  forget  it.  There  was  Choate  with  his 

J95 


Reminiscences  raven  black  hair  and  stoop  shoulders  and  eyes  that  were 
of  Mr.  Webstet  rather  dim,  when  they  looked  as  if  they  were  dim  with 
thought  and  genius,  shades  of  grand  personal  appear- 
ance and  stately  head,  almost  equal  to  any  man's  except 
Webster's;  Woodbury,  a  fine  looking  man;  George  P. 
Marsh,  a  man  of  fine  personal  physique  and  good  bear- 
ing. Then  presently  there  came  along  a  large  man, 
not  very  corpulent,  but  of  full  habit,  with  deep  chest 
and  broad  shoulders  and  with  a  high  forehead  and  with 
such  eyes  as  I  have  said  no  man  ever  had  but  Daniel 
Webster.  And  his  step  was  so  firm  though  dignified, 
without  any  affectation  with  it,  that  it  seemed  to  me 
that  the  earth  was  not  solid  enough  for  that  solid  man. 
I  turned  to  my  companion  and  said,  "This  is  the  only 
man  in  this  vast  throng  containing  so  much  talent  and 
all  that  is  brilliant  and  honored  by  the  College  and  the 
country  ;  this  must  be  Daniel  Webster. ' ' 

I  have  felt,  gentlemen,  that  all  we  could  do  in  re- 
gard to  reminiscences  is  just  to  gather  up  a  few  frag- 
ments. And  certainly  nothing  is  unimportant  pertaining 
to  the  great  statesman,  orator,  and  forensic  and  dip- 
lomatic reasoner,  one  who  possessed,  perhaps,  the  noblest 
body  of  all  that  were  ever  created  on  this  continent  or 
any  other.  How  much  more  truly,  then,  may  it  be 
said  of  him  than  of  the  man  described  by  Sheridan,  of 
whom  it  was  said,  "God  broke  the  die,  the  mould,  in 
moulding  Webster."  No  wonder  that  the  citizens  of 
Boston  called  him  the  Godlike  Daniel.  I  heard  him  at 
another  time  referred  to  by  Mr.  Harvey  when  Faneuil 
Hall  that  had  witnessed  his  most  eloquent  and  most 
patriotic  expressions  in  favor  of  liberty,  when  Faneuil 
Hall  was  denied  him.  The  city  authorities  were  afraid 

J96 


that  some  of  those  rabid  and  raving  abolitionists  would  Reminiscences 

have  it,  and  so  they  refused  it  to  Daniel  Webster,  but  of  M*.  Webster 

the  people  became  so  aroused  and  raised  such  a  hubbub 

around  the  ears  of  the  authorities  that  they  went  to  Mr. 

Webster  and  ate  humble  pie  ;  and  he  made  them  eat  it, 

large  doses  of   it.     How  unlike  Mr.  Webster,  but  he 

made  them  eat  large  doses  of  it,  and  then,  when  they 

offered  him  the  hall,  he  curtly  declined  and  stood  back  on 

his  dignity.     Harvey  tells  us  all  that,  but  he  does  not 

give  us  the  sequel.     He  says  that  Mr.  Webster  stopped 

several  days  at  the  Revere  House.     So  he  did.     There 

he    made  a  very  interesting    address,    which  I  heard. 

The  people  somehow  got  word  of  it.      I  don't  know 

how  they  were  notified  of  it,  but  an  immense  throng 

filled  Bowdoin  Square  so  that  they  had  to  have  a  large 

squad  of  police  there   in  order  to  keep  order.     They 

had  erected  a  temporary  balcony  at  the  corner  of  the 

Revere    House.      This   was  on  the  twenty-second   of 

April,  1851,  just  one  year  and  a  month,  or  a  little  more, 

after  the  Seventh  of  March  Speech.     Of  course  we  all 

expected  to  hear  some  allusion  to  that,  but  we  went 

away  entirely  disappointed  on  that  point.     Mr.  Webster 

was  in  a  happy  mood.      I  took  down    his  exordium, 

about  a  dozen  lines,  and,  perhaps,  I  can  read  them : 

"Fellow  citizens,  as  I  come  before  you  on  this  bright 

and  beautiful  morning,  with  the  glorious   sun  gilding 

with  his  first  rays  our  steeples  and  housetops  and  clothing 

the  earth  with   warmth  and  cheerfulness,  I  feel  very 

happy,  and  if  all  before  me  are  as  happy  as  the  speaker 

there  must  be  a  great  amount  of  happiness  in  this  vast 

concourse  of  people. ' ' 

J97 


Reminiscences  Now  I  shall  refer  to  an  incident  connected  with 
of  Mr.  Webster  t|je  famous  silver  vase.  In  1835,  Mr.  Webster  made 
reply  to  Hayne.  He  had  also  made  another  very  im- 
portant speech  in  reply  to  the  Calhoun  doctrine  in  1833, 
and  various  other  speeches,  on  the  banking  question  and 
other  topics.  Thus  it  was  that  the  citizens  of  Boston 
thought  it  would  be  very  desirable  to  call  Webster  out  to 
make  a  speech  on  those  topics.  They  went  ahead  and 
gathered  funds,  no  man  being  allowed  to  contribute  more 
than  one  dollar  towards  the  purchase  of  a  silver  vase  to  be 
presented  to  Mr.  Webster.  After  having  been  so  secured 
it  was  presented  to  him  with  interesting  formalities.  A 
Mr.  Gray  made  the  speech,  or  address  of  presentation,  and 
Mr.  Webster  replied  to  it  very  much  at  length.  Later 
the  original  donors  made  a  gift  of  that  vase  to  the 
Library  authorities  in  Boston  on  the  express  condition 
that  it  should  be  kept  where  the  greatest  possible  num- 
ber of  people  could  see  it,  and  it  was  placed  in  the  old 
Public  Library  where  it  could  be  seen.  I  recently 
employed  a  young  man  to  look  the  matter  up,  and  it 
turns  out  that  the  vase  has  been  taken  to  the  new 
Boston  Public  Library,  where  it  is  hidden  away 
where  nobody  can  see  it. 

Now,  I  hope  before  this  meeting  breaks  up  that  it 
will  be  resolved  that  it  is  the  intent  and  desire  of  the 
Dartmouth  alumni  that  that  vase  shall  be  brought  out 
of  its  hiding  place  and  that  it  shall  be  suitably  inscribed 
and  placed  in  some  public  position,  where  it  may  be  seen, 
for  the  admiration  of  the  citizens.  There  is  one 
comical  incident  connected  with  this  matter  which  I 
will  relate.  When  it  was  given  to  Webster,  there  was 
an  old  resident  of  my  native  village,  Thetford,  a  first - 

J98 


class  business  man  who  grew  rich  at  his  trade  as  a  tanner.  Reminiscences 

He  came  into  the  village  store  one  day  and  announced  of  Mt.  Webster 

with  great  wonder  and  emphasis,  "What  do  you  think; 

the  citizens  of  Boston  have  presented   Daniel  Webster 

with   a  silver   vest!"      Somebody   in  the  crowd  said, 

"Why,  Mr.  Ansey,  aren't  you    mistaken?     Isn't  it  a 

silver  vase?"     "No  doubt,"  he  said,  "it  must  be  that. 

I  have  no  doubt  I  was  mistaken. ' '    This  same  gentleman 

came  into  the  store  and  said  that  he  read  that  Harry 

Clay  and  Theodore  Frelinghunter  had  been  nominated. 

I  have  said  that  some  resolution  should  be  passed 
that  it  is  the  desire  and  opinion  of  the  assembly  of  the 
alumni  of  Dartmouth  College  that  that  interesting  relic 
and  historic  article  shall  be  brought  out  and  placed  in 
some  conspicuous  position  where  all  the  citizens  of  Bos- 
ton and  all  the  friends  of  that  library  can  have  the  best 
possible  opportunity  of  seeing  it,  and  of  seeing  the  in- 
scriptions which  are  upon  it.  I  thank  you,  gentlemen, 
for  the  attention  you  have  given  to  the  very  broken 
remarks  I  have  made.  I  will  not  detain  you  longer. 

The  Chairman :  Following  down  in  the  order  of 
seniority,  I  have  here  on  my  list  the  name  of  a  brother 
classmate,  Dr.  Foster,  of  '49.  I  know  that  Dr.  Foster 
has  at  least  one  reminiscence  of  Daniel  Webster,  for  he 
has  often  recounted  it  to  me.  It  was  of  the,  I  will  not 
say  impulse,  I  don't  know  that  I  ought  to  say  inspira- 
tion, but  it  was  something  very  positive  that  he  once 
derived  from  Daniel  Webster's  boot.  I  will  ask  Dr. 
Foster,  of  the  class  of  '49,  if  he  can  give  us  any  experi- 
ence or  reminiscence. 


Reminiscences  The  Reverend  Davis  Foster,  D.  D.,  '49. 

of  Mr,  Webster  Bretliren  and  Friends  : 

I  have  heard  specimens  of  moving  oratory,  but  I 
think  nothing  has  been  quite  so  moving  as  the  incident 
which  I  will  relate  to  you.  In  1847,  Daniel  Webster 
came  up  to  Lebanon  and  gave  an  address  at  the  opening 
of  the  Northern  Railroad.  We  college  boys  went  down 
to  hear  him  as  was  very  natural .  We  sat  on  the  plat- 
form, a  half  dozen  of  us,  with  our  legs  hanging  over — a 
not  very  dignified  attitude.  There  was  a  great  con- 
gregation present,  four  or  five  thousand  people,  and 
when  Mr.  Webster  came  forward  to  speak,  we  whispered 
among  ourselves,  "Now,  we  will  touch  some  part  of  his 
clothing,  or  we  will  touch  something  connected  with 
Webster."  And  we  put  our  hands  upon  his  boots. 
They  were  coarse,  cowhide  boots,  such  as  men  wore  in 
those  times,  not  fancy  slippers,  but  simply  cowhide  boots. 
Among  our  number  was  a  Mr.  Doe.  Well,  the 
Doe  happened  to  be  thin  leavened  at  that  time.  It  had 
not  risen,  but  the  touch  of  Mr.  Webster's  cowhide  boot 
proved  very  efficacious  in  the  life  of  Chief  Justice  Doe 
of  New  Hampshire.  Mr.  Doe  began  to  rise.  He  con- 
tinued to  rise  and  forty  years  after,  when  we  met  at  our 
fortieth  anniversary,  Mr.  Doe  was,  perhaps,  in  some  re- 
spects the  equal  of  any  citizen  of  New  Hampshire  as  a 
jurist  and  as  a  judge.  His  name  had  been  mentioned 
for  the  office  of  Chief  Justice  of  the  United  States.  He 
was  a  man  of  mark.  Mr.  Doe  had  risen  and  he  made  a 
full  sized  loaf  of  bread.  I  said  to  Judge  Doe,  "Mr. 
Doe,  it  did  you  more  good  than  all  the  rest  of  us  to 
touch  Mr.  Webster's  boot."  The  rest  of  us  never  at- 
tained eminence.  We  went  on  doing  a  common  sort  of 
200 


work,  and  we  had  good  men  in  the  class.     My  friend,  Reminiscences 
the  president  of  this  occasion,  did  rise.     But  we,  none  of  Mr.  Webster 
of  us,  rose  as  Mr.  Doe  rose.     And  none  of  us  have  been 
harmed  by  it,  but  it   did   Doe  a  wonderful  amount  of 
good.     From  that  time  he  began  to  rise  and  continued 
to  rise  as  long  as  he  lived. 

The  Chairman  :  We  have  often  been  told  the  power- 
ful incentive  to  action  there  was  in  an  animated  pair  of 
boots.  Especially  if  they  were,  as  my  old  classmate 
says  those  boots  were,  cowhide  boots.  I  can  only  re- 
gret that  I  was  not  on  that  platform.  I  got  no  touch  of 
them  myself.  I  have  been  advised  that  Mr.  Joseph 
Story  of  Boston,  a  nephew  of  Chief  Justice  Story,  is 
here,  and  remembers  some  things  personally  about  Mr. 
Webster.  We  shall  be  very  glad  to  hear  from  Mr. 
Story. 


.  Joseph  Story. 

The  Chairman  has  asked  me  the  year  of  my  class. 
I  have  been  in  the  habit  of  visiting  Hanover,  and 
happening  to  be  in  Hanover  I  came  here  to-day.  I 
came  to  Hanover  to  visit  a  friend  of  mine  and  to  enjoy 
the  two  days  of  celebration  in  honor  of  this  distinguished 
American.  I  have  been  asked  a  number  of  times  dur- 
ing my  visit  if  I  were  connected  with  Dartmouth  Col- 
lege, or  a  graduate  of  Dartmouth.  "  Well,"  I  said 
jocosely,  "  yes,  I  have  been  through  Dartmouth.  " 
I  took  the  opportunity  one  day  to  go  into  the 
front  door  of,  it  seems  to  me,  this  building  and  go 
through  the  rooms  of  the  College  and  out  of  the  rear 
door,  so  that  I  may  say  that  I  have  been  through  Dart- 
mouth College  and  save  any  further  explanations.  I  do 

201 


Reminiscences  not   feel  that  I  have    any  place  here,  friends,    only   as 
of  Mr.  Webster  one  of  the  humble  American  citizens  who  have  delighted 
to  know  that  Daniel  Webster,  so  distinguished  through- 
out the  world,  was  an  American  citizen. 

Reference  has  been  made  to  the  Whig  party.  I 
was  cradled  in  that  party.  My  childhood  was  rocked  in 
the  Whig  cradle,  and  of  course  I  began  to  live  hearing 
of  Daniel  Webster,  and  in  quite  a  number  of  days  in 
my  childhood,  his  name,  his  labors,  and  his  fame  were 
called  to  my  attention.  As  a  little  boy  I  remember  the 
scenes  of  the  courtroom  in  the  case  of  the  murder  of  Jo- 
seph Pike  of  Salem.  He  was  a  connection.  The  case 
was  much  talked  of  in  the  family.  I  remember  the  ex- 
citing circumstances,  how  the  vigilance  committee  was 
apppinted,  and  how  they  labored  month  after  month, 
and  month  after  month  without  finding  any  clue  to 
that  terrible  tragedy,  but  at  last,  I  think  it  was  after 
about  two  years,  it  came  by  accident,  revealed  by  one  who 
had  been  offered  a  sum  of  money  two  years  before  to 
keep  to  himself  his  knowledge.  He  wrote  to  one  of  the 
Knox  boys  a  letter  asking  them — the  boys  who  hired 
Crowninshield  to  commit  that  murder — that  they  should 
send  him  money,  two  or  three  hundred  dollars  that  had 
been  offered  him  if  he  would  keep  closed  lips.  It  went 
to  Salem  to  the  son.  The  son  had  the  same  name  as 
his  father,  and  he  turned  it  over  to  his  father  who  was 
one  of  the  vigilance  committee.  And  that  father  felt 
that  it  was  his  duty  to  the  people  of  Salem  that  he  should 
give  to  them  that  letter. 

The  results  you  know,  and  the  words  of  Webster 
in  that  trial,  tracing  up  from  the  time  the  murderer  en- 
tered the  house  until  the  transaction  was  closed.  But 

202 


the  orator  of  the  day  omitted  the  statement  that  during  Reminiscences 
the  trial   Crowninshield    committed  suicide  in  prison,  of  Mr.  Webster 
and  that  Mr.  Webster,  referring  to  it,  uttered  that  sen- 
tence that  has  been  so  well  known  in  legal  quotations — 
' '  There  is  no  escape  but  suicide,  and  suicide  is  con- 
fession." 

There  is  one  thing  that  I  wish  I  had  with  me,  a 
little  paper,  a  poem  written  by  Mr.  Webster  in  his 
younger  life  over  the  death  of  a  dear  young  son  of  great 
promise.  I  haven't  it,  but  it  shows  that  touch  of 
nature,  that  not  only  as  a  great  man  he  mingled  with 
great  men,  not  only  as  a  great  man  he  knew  no  per- 
son too  humble  for  his  association  ;  but  it  brought 
out  from  a  father's  heart,  from  the  heart  of  that  great 
man,  an  utterance  in  language  so  simple  and  tender 
that  I  know  every  mother  and  every  father  present  here 
to-day  would  feel  that  his  lament  over  the  loss  of  a  son 
revealed  the  same  tenderness  that  they  felt  when  they 
laid  a  little  boy  of  promise,  upon  whom  they  had  set 
their  hearts,  away  in  the  grave. 

During  the  times  that  I  have  been  here  it  has  been 
a  pleasure  to  visit  your  art  gallery.  Reference  has  been 
made  a  number  of  times  to  the  reply  of  Webster  to 
Hayne.  That  scene  is  delineated  upon  canvas,  as  you 
know,  in  Faneuil  Hall  in  Boston,  and  Mr.  Webster 
stands  there,  the  prominent  person  upon  the  canvas. 
If  any  of  you  wish  to  know  how  Mr.  Webster  looked 
when  he  spoke,  aside  from  anything  that  has  been  said 
here,  go  for  yourselves  into  that  gallery  and  look  there 
at  the  statue  by  Thomas  Ball,  in  my  judgment  the  best 
of  any  that  I  have  ever  seen  (his  bust  and  his  statue  re- 
veal the  lineaments  of  Mr.  Webster  as  well  as  they  can 

203 


Reminiscences  be  portrayed  in  bronze  or  clay  or  plaster) ,  and  then  im- 
of  Mr.  Webster  agine  him  standing  up  in  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States.  Look  at  that  plaster,  clothe  it  with  raiment, 
put  into  the  face  the  color  of  the  skin  and  to  the  eyes, 
those  great  lustrous  eyes,  the  elements  of  life,  and  then 
with  ears  that  shall  be  quick  to  hear  unheard  sounds, 
listen  to  his  voice  and  imagine  that  you  were  there,  and 
you  have  a  picture  of  Mr.  Webster  as  the  orator,  the 
senator,  the  great  man  among  his  fellows. 

Did  he  want  to  be  President  ?  I  know  something 
about  the  campaign,  though  I  was  small  at  the  time. 
Did  he  want  to  be  President  ?  Suppose  he  did.  Was  n't 
he  fit  for  it  ?  Was  there  ever  a  man  in  our  country  that 
t  had  stood  before  our  people,  advocating  the  questions 
that  should  bring  to  our  country  the  highest  type  of 
civilization,  of  industrial  interest,  of  business  prosperity 
and  happiness  for  the  people ;  was  there  ever  any  one 
who  had  ever  done  it  to  a  greater  extent  than  Mr.  Web- 
ster? Well  might  he  wish  it.  Well  might  he  have 
wished  the  Presidency.  Men  wish  to  be  selectmen,  to 
be  common  councillors,  men  wish  to  be  aldermen,  or 
representatives,  or  senators.  He  was  certainly  gifted  for 
the  Presidency,  and  I  am  thankful  to-day  that  the  gentle- 
man who  has  spoken  so  eloquently  to  us,  the  Honorable 
Mr.  McCall,  has  given  to  us  such  an  oration  connected 
with  the  life  of  Mr.  Webster  and  the  elements  in  his 
character.  He  covered  the  same  ground  that  others  had 
covered,  but  he  went  a  step  further,  and  turned  over 
some  of  the  other  pages  that  had  not  been  so  much 
referred  to.  I  was  glad  that  he  did  it,  because  I  think 
that  he  did  it  well.  I  know  how  bitterly  the  people 
felt  toward  Mr.  Webster — many  who  had  been  his 

204 


friends — when  he  delivered  that  March  address.     But  I  Reminiscences 

had  heard  from  some  of  his  associates  what  the  feeling  of  of  Mr.  Webster 

Webster  was  when  he  delivered  that  speech,  he  who  had 

been  the  expounder  and  the  defender  of  the  Constitution 

of  the  United  States,  whose  sentiments  had  always  been 

noble,   who   was  the  idol,   worshiped  by  a  great   and 

prosperous  party. 

I  believe  that  Mr.  Webster  felt  as  his  friends  claimed 
for  him  when  he  said  that  before  them  stood  the  picture 
of  a  country  rent  asunder,  one  nation  at  the  south, 
another  nation  at  the  north,  with  no  prospect  of  union; 
that  rather  than  to  carry  out  any  particular  policy  at 
that  time  he  would  rather  bide  for  the  time  to  come 
when  those  questions  that  had  been  troublesome  should 
be  settled  without  bloodshed,  without  war,  without  a 
broken  and  disunited  country.  All  this,  I  think,  has 
been  proved  since  that  time.  Ah,  from  the  very  ram- 
parts of  Heaven,  that  man  who  stood  and  spoke  as  he 
did,  with  a  prophet's  eye  looking  into  the  future  saw 
signs  at  that  time  when  the  discussion  of  those  questions 
were  uppermost ;  he  saw  signs  that  we  were  then  on  the 
verge  of  one  of  the  bloodiest  wars  the  world  had  ever 
seen  or  ever  would  see,  when  our  sons  and  fathers  and 
brothers,  north  and  south,  should  mingle  their  blood 
with  the  mother  Earth. 

It  was  a  prophetic  eye,  I  believe,  and  I  believe  it 
was  to  guard  against  that  fate  that  Mr.  Webster  spoke 
with  prophetic  thought,  fearing  the  things  that  did  come 
to  us.  But  I  thank  God  that  that  man  who  has  done  so 
much  for  his  country  and  must  have  had  his  heart 
grieved,  if  they  are  conscious  in  that  other  world  of  the 
things  that  transpire  here  in  this  world,  is  now  looking 

205 


Reminiscences  down  upon  the  nation  that  he  loved,  upon  the  country 
of  Mr.  Webster  for  which  he  labored,  this  chain  of  states  from  the  Gulf 
to  the  line  of  Canada  united  in  an  equal  bond. 

It  is  not  proper  for  me  to  occupy  your  time  at  this 
hour  with  my  feelings  about  Mr.  Webster,  and  I  thank 
every  man  who  has  said  a  kind  word  for  him,  and  I 
thank  you  that  you  have  permitted  me  to  say  just  these 
few  words,  coming  as  I  did  without  the  least  intention 
of  taking  any  part  in  any  celebration  except  to  rejoice 
with  you.  It  has  been  a  grand  time.  Accept  my 
thanks. 

The  Chairman  :  The  hour  grows  late,  much  more 
time  than  we  have  to  spare  could  be  given  to  recalling 
these  interesting  reminiscences,  but  we  cannot  agree  to 
dissolve  this  meeting  till  we  have  heard  of  the  last  lov- 
ing tribute  paid  the  dead  statesman  by  his  friends  and 
neighbors.  A  brother  alumnus  is  present  who  was  one 
of  the  committee  of  his  class  to  attend  Daniel  Webster's 
funeral — Mr.  Runnels  of  '53  will  tell  us  his  experiences 
in  the  performance  of  that  duty — a  duty  which  a  half 
century  ago  this  College  thought  might  be  the  last 
tribute  of  respect  it  would  ever  have  opportunity  to  pay 
to  the  memory  of  her  greatest  son. 

The  Reverend  cMoses  Tharston  Runnels,  A.  cM.t  '53. 
Fellow  Alumni  and  Friends  of  Dartmouth  : 

I  shall  take  scarcely  more  than  five  minutes  of 
your  valuable  time  this  afternoon.  I  trust  you  will  ex- 
cuse the  egotism  of  an  old  alumnus  who  finds  himself 
on  this  occasion  one  among  the  very  few  who  were  stu- 
dents in  the  College  when  our  immortal  Webster 
breathed  his  last,  and  the  only  one  among  the  students 

206 


here  present  who  was  permitted  to  attend  his  funeral  at  Reminiscences 
Marshfield.  of  Mr.  Webster 

I  well  recall  the  impression  which  the  not  unex- 
pected intelligence  of  Mr.  Webster's  death  made  upon 
us  as  a  body  of  students.  We  had  been  having  a  very 
heated  political  campaign  for  several  weeks  before  that, 
of  Scott  versus  Pierce  in  1852.  I  remember  having 
climbed  the  lightning  rod  to  the  top  of  the  dome  of 
Dartmouth  Hall  and  to  have  held  my  classmate  Burnett 
while  standing  up  on  my  shoulders  so  that  he  might 
fasten  our  Scott  flag  nearer  to  the  weather  vane  than 
the  Pierce  flag  had  previously  been  raised.  Many  were 
the  political  gatherings  and  the  political  speeches  which 
we  had  been  hearing  or  trying  to  make,  but  when 
the  news  of  Mr.  Webster's  demise  came  to  us  on  or 
soon  after  the  twenty-fourth  day  of  October,  a  sudden 
hush,  a  deep  solemnity  fell  upon  us  like  a  pall. 

Politics  were  entirely  dropped.  The  students  met 
as  a  body  in  this  Chapel.  Our  revered  teachers  with 
the  venerable  Dr.  Lord  at  their  head — all  now  gone 
to  their  reward — spoke  to  us  fitting  words,  after  which 
two  delegates  from  each  class  were  chosen  to  attend  the 
funeral  of  the  departed  statesman.  Our  friend,  Alpheus 
Benning  Crosby,  the  genial  Dr.  Ben  of  after  years,  was 
selected  with  me  to  represent  the  senior  class.  The 
late  lamented  Dr.  Henry  R.  Hazen  was  a  delegate  from 
the  class  of  1854,  and  my  impression  is,  though  I 
am  not  quite  certain,  that  Walbridge  A.  Field,  afterwards 
Chief  Justice  of  Massachusetts,  and  John  M.  Chamber- 
lain, a  clergyman  of  later  years  in  Minnesota,  represented 
the  class  of  1855. 

207 


Reminiscences  Before  this  I  had  been  a  very  studious  youth.  Not 

of  Mr*  Webster  a  mark  for  three  years  had  been  set  against  my  name  on 
the  monitor's  bills,  and  I  was  so  anxious  not  to  break 
the  record  that  I  hesitated  about  accepting  the  appoint- 
ment. But  my  excellent  uncle,  Dr.  Albert  Smith,  of 
the  medical  faculty,  charged  me  by  all  means  to  do  so. 
Said  he,  u  You  will  hereafter  look  back  upon  it  as  one 
of  the  highest  honors  of  your  life  to  have  attended  the 
funeral  of  Mr.  Webster."  I  therefore  donned  my  first 
black  stovepipe  hat,  the  only  one  I  have  ever  worn,  and 
proceeded  to  Marshfield  with  the  rest. 

But  who  can  adequately  picture  that  scene !  The 
people  of  Massachusetts  poured  into  Marshfield  by  thou- 
sands, not  only  from  his  own  Congressional  district, 
which  we  are  told  once  gave  Mr.  Webster  every  vote 
but  one  to  return  him  to  Congress,  but  from  all  parts  of 
the  state  and  from  other  portions  of  New  England. 
Steamboats  were  carried  up  from  Boston  to  Duxbury, 
and  other  adjacent  harbors.  Train  after  train  went  up 
to  the  nearest  station  on  the  Old  Colony  Railroad  while 
all  the  old  neighbors  of  Mr.  Webster,  the  sturdy  farmers 
of  Marshfield  and  its  vicinity,  in  whose  agricultural 
affairs  he  had  taken  so  deep  an  interest,  were  there  in  a 
body.  Several  of  these  were  his  chosen  bearers,  and  I 
remember  to  have  seen  them  sitting  with  tearful  eyes 
beside  his  bier. 

Mr.  Webster's  body  was  dressed  in  his  citizen's 
suit  just  as  he  used  to  appear  in  Boston,  and  was  laid 
upon  a  raised  open  casket.  The  last  picture  we  saw 
upon  the  screen  last  evening  well  answered  to  his  face 
as  he  appeared  in  death,  only  with  closed  eyes,  while 
the  massive  forehead  and  deeply  arched  eyebrows  made 

208 


us  all  feel  it  was  the  most  magnificent  face  and  form  Reminiscences 
that  we  had  ever  gazed  upon  in  the  embrace  of  death,  of  Mr,  Webster 
I  had  never  seen  Mr.  Webster  in  life,  but  his  mortal 
part  in  death  left  an  impression  upon  my  mind  which 
only  the  glories  of  eternity  can  efface.  For  an  hour  or 
two  the  masses  filed  by  to  take  their  last  lingering  look  of 
that  Godlike  form  and  countenance.  The  Reverend  Mr. 
Alden,  then  the  young  pastor  of  the  Marshfield  church, 
by  Mr.  Webster's  request,  conducted  the  services  and 
was  the  only  one  who  spoke  at  his  funeral.  The  pro- 
cession which  followed  his  remains  was  so  large  that  it 
seemed  necessary  to  take  quite  a  circuitous  route  to  the 
place  of  burial.  Sadly  we  marched  along  to  the  music  of 
that  grand  requiem  of  Beethoven,  which  has  since  borne 
the  name  of  "Webster's  Funeral  March."  As  we  were 
thus  passing  to  the  tomb,  I  well  remember  that  the 
sun  for  the  first  time  on  that  day  shone  out  brightly 
from  the  dull  and  mournful  clouds  which  had  hung 
over  us  during  the  preceding  hours. 

Behind  me  in  the  procession  was  an  elderly  gentle- 
man who  quoted,  as  we  slowly  wended  our  way,  a  para- 
graph of  Webster's  phillipic  against  Hayne.  He 
further  said  that  he  himself  was  present  in  the  Senate 
chamber  when  that  speech  was  delivered,  and  that  the 
sun  then  beamed  into  the  chamber  lighting  up  the  very 
spot  where  Mr.  Webster  was  standing  near  the  close  of 
that  address,  as  he  uttered  those  undying  words  : 
* '  When  my  eyes  shall  be  turned  to  behold  for  the  last 
time,  the  sun  in  heaven,  may  I  not  see  him  shining  on 
the  broken  and  dishonored  fragments  of  a  once  glorious 
Union  ;  on  States  dissevered,  discordant,  belligerent ;  on 
a  land  rent  with  civil  feuds,  or  drenched  it  may  be,  in 

209 


Reminiscences  fraternal    blood  !      Let  their  last  feeble  and  lingering 
of  Mr.  Webster  glance,  rather,  behold  the  gorgeous  ensign  of  the  re- 
public      bearing  not  these  words  of  delu- 
sion and  folly,   '  Liberty   first  and    Union  afterwards'  ; 

but  that  other  sentiment,  dear  to  every 

true  American  heart — 'Liberty  and  Union,    now  and 
forever,  one  and  inseparable  !  '  " 

The  Chairman :  Gentlemen,  we  have  now  per- 
formed the  last  duty,  paid  the  last  tribute  that  the 
alumni  of  Dartmouth  College  can  at  this  time  present 
to  the  memory  of  their  great  fellow  alumnus.  What 
shall  follow  this  evening  will  be  rather  in  the  light  of 
hilarity  and  festivity  proper  to  any  centennial  celebra- 
tion, but  this  meeting  for  reminiscence  this  afternoon 
was  forced  to  take  on  somewhat  of  a  more  sober  charac- 
ter. I  congratulate  you  and  myself  that  we  have  heard 
so  much  that  has  been  of  interest  and  that  this  descrip- 
tion of  his  final  laying  away  has  been  so  graphically 
told.  May  the  recollections  of  this  occasion  be  prized 
in  all  the  future  which  is  before  us.  Our  duty  is  now 
ended :  as  we  go  hence  may  we  say  of  our  illustrious 
Webster  with  bowed  heads  and  with  loving,  reverent 
hearts,  u  Requiescat  in  pace." 


2JO 


Exercises      of 
Wednesday  Evening' 


Program. 

The  Centennial  closed  with  a  banquet,  followed  by  speeches 
from  distinguished  alumni  and  guests  of  the  College*  The 
new  and  stately  dining  hall  in  College  Hall  was  at 
this  time  put  to  its  first  public  use.  At  7:30  o'clock  the  hall 
was  filled  to  its  utmost  capacity  with  trustees,  faculty, 
alumni,  and  guests  of  the  College*  The  gallery  was  re- 
served for  ladies  in  attendance  at  the  Centennial* 
Banquet* 

Following  the  banquet  the  President  of  the  College  intro- 
duced the  guests  of  the  evening : 

His  Excellency  the  Governor  of  New  Hampshire* 

Edwin  Webster  Sanborn,  Esquire,  '78. 

Professor  Francis  Brown,  LL.  D.,  '70, 

The  Honorable  David  Cross,  LL.  D.,  '4J. 

The  Honorable  William  Everett,  LL.  D. 

The  Reverend  Edward  Everett  Hale,  LL.  D. 

The  Honorable  George  Frisbie  Hoar,  LL,  D. 

Chief  Justice  Melville  Weston  Fuller,  LL.D. 


Tne  Webster  Centennial  Banquet. 

HE  dining  hall  was  hung  with  portraits.  At  the 
head  of  the  hall  were  those  of  Mr.  Webster, 
with  one  exception  in  possession  of  the  College; 


T 


the  "  Black  Dan"  picture,  painted  by  Francis  Alexander 
and  presented  to  the  College  by  Dr.  G.  C.  Shattuck, 
1803  ;  the  painting  by  T.  A.  Lawson,  the  gift  of  John 
Aiken,  Esquire,  1814,  and  others  ;  the  Ames  portrait, 

2*3 


The  painted  by  Joseph  Ames  and   presented  to  the   College 

Centennial  by  Dr.  J.   B.  Upham,   1842  ;   the  Marshfield  portrait, 

Banquet  painted  at  Marshfield  in    1848  by  Emery  Seaman  and 

presented  to  the  College  by  Lewis  G.  Farmer,  Esquire, 

1872  ;  and  the  portrait  by  Gilbert  Stuart,  loaned  by  the 

Honorable  George  Fred  Williams,  1872. 

On  either  side  were  portraits  of  some  of  the  counsel 
who  were  associated  with  Mr.  Webster  in  the  Dartmouth 
College  Case  :  Jeremiah  Smith  and  Jeremiah  Mason, 
who  appeared  with  Mr.  Webster  before  the  State  Court ; 
Levi  Woodbury,  of  the  New  Hampshire  Bench ;  Joseph 
Hopkinson,  who,  with  Mr.  Webster,  carried  the  case 
before  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  ;  and 
Ichabod  Bartlett  of  the  opposing  counsel. 

There  were  also  hung  about  the  room  portraits  of 
the  founder,  early  presidents,  distinguished  graduates, 
and  benefactors  of  the  College.  Among  these  there  was 
a  draped  portrait  of  the  Honorable  Frank  Palmer 
Goulding  of  the  class  of  1863,  who  was  to  have  spoken 
at  the  banquet,  but  who  died  only  a  few  days  before  the 
Centennial. 

When  the  procession  had  entered  and  all  had  been 
seated  under  the  direction  of  the  Marshal,  divine 
blessing  was  asked  by  Professor  Francis  Brown,  LL. 
D.,  '70.  During  the  banquet  the  College  Orchestra 
furnished  music.  The  speaking  which  followed  was 
interspersed  with  selections  by  the  Glee  Club. 

At  the  close  of  the  banquet  Colonel  Darling  called 
the  assembly  to  order  with  a  bell,  which  he  stated  had 
been  owned  and  used  by  Mr.  Webster  in  his  home  in 
Franklin.  He  also  announced  that  through  the  courtesy 
of  the  Boston  and  Maine  railroad  the  special  train  for 

2J4 


Boston  would  be  held  until  one  hour  after  the  close  of  The 
the  exercises.  Centennial 

Banquet 

Introductory  Words  of  the  Presid- 
ing Officer. 

Brethren  of  the   Alumni,   Ladies  and  Gentlemen,   and 
our  honored  Guests  : — 

REGRET  that  my  opening  word  must  be  a  word 
of  apology.  It  was  far  from  my  intention  to 
preside  at  this  dinner.  At  the  very  outset  an  in- 
vitation was  extended  to  the  Honorable  Alfred  Russell 
of  the  class  of  1850,  to  serve  as  toastmaster,  in  recogni- 
tion of  his  eminent  fitness  for  this  service.  He  had  ac- 
cepted the  invitation,  and  had  confidently  expected  to 
be  with  us  until  within  a  few  days.  A  special  session 
of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Michigan,  fixed  for  this  very 
date,  detains  him  at  Detroit.  As  it  falls  to  me  to  play 
the  part  of  host  for  the  College  throughout  this  Centen- 
nial occasion  I  have  been,  impressed  by  the  committee  of 
arrangements  into  Mr.  Russell's  place.  It  is  not  my 
duty  to  make  his  speech ;  only  to  discharge  the  more 
formal  functions  of  his  office. 

There  is  but  one  word  which  I  can  speak  in  my 
capacity  as  host  with  perhaps  greater  fitness  than  Mr. 
Russell,  the  simple  word  of  welcome.  I  bid  you  wel- 
come, brethren  of  the  alumni,  you  who  have  come 
hither  in  your  gratitude  and  in  your  pride.  I  welcome 
you  to  the  full  enjoyment  of  your  honorable  and  inspir- 
ing fellowship.  I  welcome  you  also  to  the  high  task  of 
making  the  College  more  worthy  of  the  man  and  of  the 
event  which  we  celebrate.  I  bid  you  welcome,  repre- 

215 


The  sentatives    of  the  state  of    New  Hampshire,  and  you 
President  our  neighbors  of   the  state  of  Massachusetts,  who  are 
of  the  with  us  on  this  occasion   by  virtue  of  a  common  in- 
College  heritance  and  of  a  common  affection.     I  bid  you  wel- 
come,    our     most    distinguished    guests,     who     have 
graciously  counted  it  an  honor  to  join  with  us  in  this  re- 
vival of  the  fame  of  Mr.  Webster. 

I  have  before  me  letters  of  regret  from  many  whose 
presence  would  have  added  greatly  to  the  enjoyment  and 
to  the  distinction  of  this  gathering.  The  following  I 
will  read  in  full  or  in  part  : 

ESKADALE,  BEAULY,  SCOTLAND,  Aug.  27,  1901. 
Lord  Dartmouth  regrets  extremely  that  important  engagements 
in  England  will  prevent  his  visiting  America  this  autumn.  He  must 
therefore  regretfully  decline  the  invitation  of  the  President  and  Trus- 
tees of  Dartmouth  College  to  attend  the  celebration  of  the  Centennial 
Anniversary  of  the  graduation  of  Daniel  Webster,  a  ceremony  which 
had  it  been  possible,  he  would  much  have  liked  to  witness. 

WOOD  LEE,  VIRGINIA  WATER,  September  2,  1901. 
Dear  Mr.  President : — 

I  regret  very  much  that  I  shall  be  unable  to  avail  myself  of  the 
invitation  extended  by  the  President  and  Trustees  of  Dartmouth 
College  to  be  present  on  so  interesting  an  occasion  as  that  of  the  cele- 
bration of  the  Centennial  Anniversary  of  the  graduation  of  Daniel 
Webster. 

With  renewed  regrets,  and  all  good  wishes  for  the  continued  suc- 
cess and  usefulness  of  the  College,  Believe  me, 

Very  faithfully  yours, 

LEVI  P.  MORTON. 
The  President  of  Dartmouth  College. 

NEWBURY,  N.  H.,  August  3,  1901. 
Dear  Dr.  Tucker : — 

I  have  received  your  kind  letter  of  the  3oth  of  July  and  I  am,  of 
course,  deeply  sensible  of  the  compliment  involved  in  the  invitation. 
It  is  however  out  of  my  power  to  avail  myself  of  your  courtesy.  I  am 
engaged  at  the  request  of  the  President  in  keeping  up  the  current 

2(6 


business  of  the  State  Department,  which  I  can  do  by  dividing  my  The 
time  between  this  place  and  Washington.    But  I  am  unable  to  make  p      '4     * 
any  engagements  for  any  other  purpose. 

I  am  most  grateful  to  you  for  your  kind  letter  and  wish  that  I   ° 
could  answer  differently.  College 

Yours  faithfully, 

JOHN  HAY. 

NORTH  CONWAY,  N.  H.,  September  5, 1901. 
The  President  and  Faculty  of  Dartmouth  College. 
Gentlemen  : — 

To  accept  your  courteous  invitation  to  join  in  the  September  fes- 
tivities of  our  venerable  and  distinguished  College  would  give  me 
very  real  gratification.  And  I  would  certainly  be  with  you  then  were 
I  in  New  England.  But,  unfortunately  for  me,  I  must  the  last  week 
in  this  month  be  well  on  my  way  to  San  Francisco.  There  I  have 
throughout  October,  duties  of  a  serious  nature  which  I  cannot  pos- 
sibly put  aside. 

I  am  sure  that  the  old  College  will  gather  many  of  her  sons ;  and 
what  college  can  rejoice  in  a  body  of  alumni,  at  once  more  loyal  than 
they  of  Dartmouth,  or  made  up  of  stronger  men !  Not  one. 

To  all  who  value  a  sound  and  large  education,  and  who  care  that 
New  Hampshire  do  share  in  all  best  things,  the  sound,  prosperous 
condition  of  the  College  is  a  cause  of  much  gladness. 

And  with  all  warmest  good  wishes,  I  am,  Gentlemen, 
With  greatest  respect,  Very  truly  yours, 

WILLIAM  W.  NILES. 

To  the  President  and  Trustees  of  Dartmouth  College. 
Gentlemen  : — 

I  have  the  honor  to  express  my  gratification  at  receiving  your  in- 
vitation to  participate  in  the  celebration  of  the  Centennial  Anniver- 
sary of  the  graduation  of  Daniel  Webster.  It  would  afford  me  the 
greatest  pleasure  to  be  with  you  on  that  occasion,  did  not  my  age  and 
naturally  waning  strength  forbid.  His  glorious  head  inspired  me  in 
my  first  work  in  clay,  the  first  stroke  of  my  chisel,  afforded  me  the 
first  success  in  my  profession,  and  therefore  is  heartily  and  gratefully 
remembered  by  me. 

I  will  only  add  a  passing  thought, 

On  that  sad  night,  when  he  departed, 
Ere  his  great  spirit  fled  : 

2J7 


The 

President 

of  the 

College 


Three  words  he  murmured ;  then  'twas  whispered, 
"He  is  dead." 

Not  so  !     He's  with  you  in  your  meeting, 

His  benison  to  give ; 

And — though  you  may  not  hear — repeating 
"I  still  live!" 

Respectfully  and  truly  yours, 

THOMAS  BALL. 

MONTCLAIR,    N.   J.,   Aug.  20,  IQOI. 

LAWRENCE  PARK,  BRONXVILLE,  N.  Y.,  September  zd,  1901. 
WILLIAM  JEWETT  TUCKER,  D.  D.,  LL.  D., 

President  of  Dartmouth  College. 
Dear  Sir  : — 

My  respect  and  affection  for  Dartmouth,  at  whose  hands  I 
received  my  first  honorary  degree  not  conferred  by  my  Alma  Mater, 
make  me  always  grateful  for  her  remembrance ;  and  I  am  now  hon- 
ored by  the  invitation  of  her  President  and  Trustees  to  attend  the  cele- 
bration of  the  Centennial  Anniversary  of  the  graduation  of  Daniel 
Webster. 

It  is  with  more  than  conventional  regret  that  I  find  myself  unable 
to  visit  Dartmouth  upon  so  notable  an  occasion.     With  the  great 
names  of  Webster,  Choate,  and  Chase  upon  the  roll  of  her  graduates, 
she  can  indeed  in  Lowell's  words, 
" — cling  forever 

In  her  grand  old  mountain  rest," 
and  proudly  breast  the  upper  air. 

I  am,  with  much  respect, 

Very  truly  yours, 
*  EDMUND  C.  STEDMAN. 

HARLAKENDEN  HOUSE,  CORNISH,  August  31,  1901. 
My  Dear  Dr.  Tucker : — 

I  regret  exceedingly  that  I  shall  not  be  able  to  attend  the  Webster 
Centennial,  but  I  shall  not  be  in  this  part  of  the  country  at  the  time. 
I  am  very  much  disappointed  that  this  is  the  case,  but  I  have  other 
engagements  of  long  standing  which  it  is  impossible  to  break.  I  ex- 
pect to  drive  to  Dartmouth  some  time  this  autumn,  and  shall  call  and 
pay  my  respects  and  express  my  regrets  to  you  then.  With  many 
thanks,  believe  me, 

Sincerely  yours, 

WINSTON  CHURCHILL. 

2J8 


Letters  have  also  been  received  from  Chief  Justice  The 
Isaac  Blodgett,  Senators   Gallinger  and  Burnham,  As-  President 
sistant   Secretary    Hackett,    Representative   Sulloway,  of  the 
the  Honorable  Stilson  Hutchins,   the  Honorable  John  College 
D.  Lyman,  Ex-Senator  Dawes,  Judge  Jeremiah  Smith, 
President  Lucius   T uttle,  the  Honorable  George   Fred 
Williams,  Chief  Justice    Holmes,  ex-Secretary  Olney, 
Senator  W.  P.  Dillingham,  ex-Judge  Hoadly  and  others. 

I  will  read  the  following  letter  which  lends  its  own 
pathos  to  this  occasion.  All  we  have  to  show  for  the 
promise  of  this  letter  is  an  honored  memory,  and  the 
draped  picture  which  hangs  upon  the  wall. 

POLAND  SPRING  HOUSE,  SOUTH  POLAND,  ME. 
REV.  W.  J.  TUCKER,  HANOVER,  N.  H. 
My  Dear  Dr.  Tucker: — 

Your  invitation  to  speak  at  the  banquet,  September  25th,  on  Mr. 
Webster  at  the  Massachusetts  bar  was  forwarded  here,  and  I  have 
just  received  it.  I  thank  you  very  much  for  the  honor,  and  am  happy 
to  accept.  Hoping  that  the  celebration  may  be  all  we  desire,  I 
remain, 

Very  sincerely  yours, 

FRANK  P.  GOULDING. 

In  the  absence,  however,  of  many  who  would  have 
been  with  us  to-night  had  it  been  possible,  we  have  a 
princely  gathering.  I  will  not  withhold  your  attention 
from  those  whose  fame  has  brought  you  around  these 
tables.  In  the  letter  of  Mr.  Russell  to  Judge  Richardson 
explaining  his  absence  he  gave  this  chance  definition  of 
a  toastmaster,  "The  toastmaster  resembles  the  whet- 
stone mentioned  by  Horace  which  does  no  cutting  it- 
self; but  brings  out  the  sharpness  of  the  blades  of 
others. ' '  Accepting  this  definition  I  proceed  at  once 
to  touch  the  edge  of  the  blades  around  me. 

2J9 


And  first  of  all  I  am  about  to  present  to  you  the 
President  Governor  of  the  State  of  New  Hampshire.  The  relation 
of  the  °f  tne  State  to  the  College  is  very  different  from  that 
College  which  obtained  at  the  time  which  is  brought  to  mind 
by  events  which  will  doubtless  be  referred  to  this  even- 
ing. The  Dartmouth  College  Case  bore  the  legal 
title,  "The  Trustees  of  Dartmouth  College  vs.  William 
H.  Woodward,"  but  the  defendant  in  the  case  was 
virtually  the  State  of  New  Hampshire.  It  would  be 
unjust,  however,  to  recall  this  ancient  controversy  from 
the  side  of  the  College  without  making  the  frank 
acknowledgment  that  the  College  invited  the  interference 
of  the  State.  As  I  have  had  occasion  to  say  elsewhere, 
the  State  did  not  take  the  initiative.  It  was,  perhaps, 
for  this  reason  that  the  breach  between  the  State  and 
the  College  was  so  quickly  healed  after  the  Federal 
Court  had  made  its  decision.  In  the  present  relations 
between  the  State  and  the  College  no  one  could  suspect 
that  there  had  ever  been  alienation  or  controversy. 
Each  recognizes  in  growing  measure  its  obligation  to 
the  other,  and  from  the  side  of  the  State  no  one  has 
expressed  with  greater  frankness  or  good  will  the 
present  indebtedness  of  the  State  to  the  College  than  the 
honored  guest  whom  I  now  present  to  you,  His 
Excellency  the  Governor  of  New  Hampshire. 


220 


Speech  of  His  Excellency  Chester  Chester 

Bradley  Jordan,    LL.D.  Bradley 

Jordan 

Mr.  President  :— 

KW  Hampshire  is  proud  that  she  was  able  to 
give  to  the  nation  and  the  world  a  character  so 
grand,  an  intellect  so  great  as  to  win  and  hold 
the  admiration  of  reading,  thinking  men  in  all  lands  for 
almost  a  century.  Richly  endowed  by  his  Creator,  for- 
tunate in  being  well  born  of  loving,  sturdy  parents  who 
contributed  generously  of  themselves  and  of  their  scant 
means  to  the  education  and  the  culture  that  well  sup- 
plemented his  massive  natural  powers,  Webster  early 
attracted  the  attention  of  our  great  minds,  went  to  the 
front  rank  of  lawyers,  diplomats,  and  statesmen,  and  for 
half  a  century  in  all  those  fields  maintained  undisputed 
primacy.  And  now  at  this  centennial  celebration  of 
his  graduation  from  this  renowned  seat  of  learning  his 
work  and  his  name  stand  forth  in  matchless  brilliancy 
and  in  a  glory  undimrned  by  the  flight  of  years.  His- 
tory nowhere  records  greater  achievements  performed 
by  any  man  in  the  civil  walks  of  life  than  those  wrought 
by  this  son  of  the  old  Granite  State  as  he  thought  and 
toiled  and  wrote  and  spake  to  and  among  his  fellow 
countrymen,  unfolding  to  dim  understanding,  explain- 
ing to  obtuse  intellects,  making  plain  to  carping  critics 
not  then  over  loyal  to  our  form  of  government,  the  rich- 
ness, the  fullness  and  completeness  of  the  Constitution, 
urging  upon  all  the  people  the  great  necessity  for  adher- 
ing to  all  its  provisions  in  sunshine  and  in  tempest,  in 
war  and  in  peace.  With  a  logic  that  was  irresistible,  a 
reasoning  most  convincing,  a  forecast  so  unerring  as  to 

22* 


Chester  be  prophetic,  with  appeals  eloquent  with  truth  and  loy- 
Bradley  alty  he  did  work  for  the  constitution  second  to  none, 

Jordan  and  equalled,  if  equalled  at  all,   only  by  that  of   the 
great  Marshall. 

But  standing  here  among  these  Judges,  Senators, 
Members  of  Congress,  Presidents  and  Professors  of  Col- 
leges, Doctors  of  Law,  Divinity,  and  Medicine,  grand 
men  in  every  calling  who  have  spoken  and  are  to  speak 
of  him  whose  virtues  we  celebrate,  in  the  short  time 
accorded  me  as  Chief  Magistrate  of  Webster's  native 
state,  I  shall  not,  must  not,  undertake  to  cover  any  con- 
siderable part  of  the  broad  field  of  his  activities  and  use- 
fulness, but  rather  seek  to  speak  a  few  words  concern- 
ing what  more  distinctively  belongs  to  New  Hampshire. 
I  realize  that  he  was  the  nation's,  that  he  was  in  every 
large  sense  an  American  citizen  hemmed  in  by  no  state 
lines :  that  all  our  states  have  a  right  to  share  in  his 
lustrous  record,  his  wonderful  career,  and  his  ever  in- 
creasing fame.  Ours,  I  have  said  is  the  place  of  his 
birth,  the  home  of  his  childhood.  Ours,  too,  his  par- 
ents, his  brothers  and  sisters,  his  boyhood  days,  his 
early  struggles  in  school,  his  college  life,  in  which  he 
gave  abundant  promise  of  the  man  he  became.  Ours 
the  deep  reverence  for  father  and  mother  and  the  loyalty 
to  the  interests  and  wants  of  all  in  the  old  home  at  Salis- 
bury ;  ours  the  all-night  conference  when  he  laid  bare 
to  Ezekiel  his  plans  and  purpose  for  sending  him  to 
College,  and  ours  the  tears,  and  the  conflict,  too,  be- 
tween desire  and  apparent  duty  to  themselves  and  the 
rest  of  the  household,  of  that  father  and  mother  in  that 
next  night's  conference  as  they  discussed  the  question 
of  mortgaging  the  farm  to  raise  money  to  educate  both 

222 


boys  ;  ours  that  bright  morning  when   the  sun  broke  Chester 
upon  that  humble  home  and  found  a  new  radiance,  a  Bradley 
brighter  bow  of  promise  than  its  inmates  had  ever  before  Jordan 
beheld,  for  all  had  heard  the  words  of  the  fond  mother, — 
"Father,  I  guess  we  better  trust  the  boys."     Ours  the 
inspiring   example   of    that  sublime   trust  in   rugged, 
noble,  aspiring  youth,  and  of  unsurpassed  filial  devotion 
and  care  in  return  ;  ours  the  journeys  of  father  and  son 
to  Exeter  and  to  Hanover  ;  of  son,  on  that  May  day  as 
his  quarter's   salary  was  paid  him,  the  first  consider- 
able sum  of  money  he  ever  earned,  when  with  a  thrill 
of  joy  he  never  before  felt  he  set  out  across  the  country 
for  Hanover  and  placed  it  all  in  Ezekiel's  hands. 

This  giant  of  giants,  this  prince  of  princes,  this 
man  who  knew  no  superior  among  men  as  he  walked 
the  earth,  was  by  his  own  fireside  sweet  and  tender  as  a 
woman.  As  his  children  and  wife  bent  before  the  storms 
of  life  he  went  deep  into  the  valley  of  affliction.  His 
mighty  hand  was  soft  and  gentle  as  he  laid  it  upon  the 
wounds  of  suffering  humanity.  His  great  heart  never 
failed  to  bleed  at  the  woes  and  misfortunes  of  others. 

He  kept  green  and  warm  his  love  for  his  old  New 
Hampshire  home  and  his  New  Hampshire  friends.  Every 
year  he  made  fond  pilgrimages  to  it  and  to  them.  He  was 
pleased  beyond  measure  to  receive  on  his  birthday 
letters  from  his  old  neighbors.  In  public  and  in 
private  he  told  of  the  virtues  of  those  from  whose  loins 
he  sprang.  He  sang  praises  to  New  Hampshire's 
beautiful  hills,  everlasting  mountains,  to  her  lakes  and 
her  rivers,  to  the  streams  that  in  his  boyhood  had  be- 
come so  dear  to  him.  With  the  elder  Crawford  he 
climbed  our  highest  mountain.  As  he  reached  the  top 

223 


Chester  he  said, — uMt.  Washington,  I  have  come  a  long  distance 

Bradley  and  toiled  hard  to  reach  your  summit,  and  now  you 

Jordan  give  me  a  cold  reception.     I  am  extremely  sorry  that  I 

cannot  stay  to  view  this   grand   prospect  which  lies 

before  me  and  nothing  prevents  but  the  uncomfortable 

atmosphere  in  which  you  reside." 

His  address  at  the  New  Hampshire  Festival  at 
Boston  in  November,  1849,  is  full  of  affection  for  home 
and  friends.  The  keynote  of  his  oration  here  in  Han- 
over in  1800  was  love  of  country.  In  his  Fourth  of 
July  oration  at  Fryeburg  in  1802  he  said,  "The  American 
Constitution  is  the  purchase  of  American  valor,"  and 
from  then  to  the  day  of  his  death  he  did  not  cease  to 
urge  upon  all  his  countrymen  the  danger  of  departing 
from  its  teachings. 

He  loved  his  Alma  Mater.  In  the  prime  of  his 
superb  manhood,  in  the  vigor  of  his  imperial  intellect, 
he  pleaded  for  her  until  spectators,  court,  and  advocate 
were  in  tears,  and  the  decision  then  reached  made  the 
life  of  this  College  possible  and  had  more  sweeping  in- 
fluence upon  such  institutions  and  upon  the  law  of 
contracts  than  any  other  our  court  had  ever  pronounced. 

Dartmouth  does  well  to  commemorate  in  this  be- 
coming manner  the  graduation  from  her  halls  one 
hundred  years  ago  of  the  greatest  man  of  the  many 
great  men  the  College  and  New  Hampshire  have  given 
to  the  world.  Last  February  we  fittingly  observed  the 
hundredth  anniversary  of  John  Marshall's  advent  to 
the  bench  of  our  highest  court. 

Young  men  of  New  Hampshire,  look  upon  the 
lives  of  these  two  men  and  take  new  hope,  new  courage, 
new  inspiration. 

224 


President  Tucker  :     In  the    tribute  which    we    pay  Chestct 
to  the  memory  of  Daniel  Webster  it  would  be  a  most  Bradley 
ungracious  neglect  if  we  should  fail  to  recall  the  name  Jordan 
of  Ezekiel.  Daniel  and  Ezekiel,  brothers  indeed,  of  equal 
endowment,  sharing  the  same  early  fortune,  and  united 
till  death  by  a  love  "passing  the  love   of  women."     I 
take  great  pleasure  in  presenting  to  you,  of  direct  de- 
scent in  the  collateral  branch,  Edwin  Webster  Sanborn 
Esquire,  of  the  class  of  1878. 


Speech  of  Edwin  Webster  San- 
born*  E-squire,  '78. 

President  Tucker,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen  : — 

INCE  our  people  acquired  the  habit  of  centen- 
nial celebrations,  it  has  become  usual  to  analyze 
the  event  undergoing  observance,  and  to  test  its 


value  by  the  permanent  results.  The  present  anniver- 
sary has  thus  brought  out  the  service  of  Mr.  Webster  to 
education,  which  had  been  overshadowed  by  the  com- 
mercial importance  of  the  Dartmouth  College  decision. 
Growing  out  of  his  attachment  to  this  College,  and  his 
faith  in  the  type  of  culture  it  represented,  it  is  difficult 
to  speak  of  the  results  without  frequent  reference  to 
Dartmouth. 

There  was  a  distant  relative  of  Mr.  Webster,  a 
portly  and  solemn  man,  who  seized  the  opportunity, 
whenever  visited  by  his  kindred,  to  furnish,  with  much 
detail,  an  account  of  his  own  personal  affairs.  This  he 
always  prefaced  with  the  remark — "I  will  now  do  what 
I  seldom  do,  and  talk  about  myself."  This  formula, 
which  is  said  to  have  appealed  to  Mr.  Webster's  sense  of 

225 


Edwin  humor,  might  be  used  on  behalf  of  the  College,  which  is 
Webster  now  receiving  its  family  and  friends.  Its  eminent 
Sanborn  guests  have  recognized  by  their  presence  the  responsi- 
bility laid  upon  Dartmouth  by  its  second  founder,  and 
if  the  College,  through  its  officers  or  alumni,  persists  in 
speaking  of  itself, — which  it  does  but  once  in  a  hundred 
years, — it  is  hoped  that  this  may  be  accepted  as  the  due 
accounting  of  its  stewardship. 

So  many  years  having  passed  without  producing 
another  Webster,  it  was  doubtless  wise  to  concede  that 
his  career  was  not  entirely  the  result  of  his  college  life. 
Yet  the  recent  parade  has  proved, — after  the  necessary 
restorations  had  been  made, — that  between  the  sons  of 
Dartmouth,  who  are  the  present  ornaments  of  the  Bos- 
ton bar,  and  their  illustrious  predecessor,  the  difference, 
after  all,  is  only  one  of  headgear. 

In  regard  to  Mr.  Webster  himself  we  have  been  able 
to  show,  at  least,  that  Dartmouth  was  as  naturally  the 
Webster  college  as  Kearsarge  was  the  Webster  moun- 
tain. Kearsarge  remains  at  the  old  location  ;  and  if  the 
alchemy  of  nature  should  give  us  a  second  Webster,  he 
would  find  at  Dartmouth  the  congenial  place  to  develop 
his  genius. 

This  grows  out  of  the  fact  that  Dartmouth  has 
always  been  a  representative  institution  of  northern  New 
England,  being  shaped  by  the  same  persistent  forces 
which  in  the  case  of  Mr.  Webster  were  concentrated  upon 
an  individual.  Of  these  New  England  influences  the 
first  principle  is  seriousness.  The  early  attempts  to 
hammer  a  livelihood  from  the  soil  of  the  Granite  State 
could  hardly  have  been  other  than  a  serious  employ- 
ment. The  young  men  of  those  days  came  to  Hanover 

226 


with  feelings  of  respect  for  labor  and  reverence  for  learn-   Edwin 
ing.     Their  sentiment  was  recognized  by  an  early  rule   Webster 
which  solved  the  problem  of  fitting  the  punishment  to   Sanborn 
the  crime.     "No  scholar  shall  speak   diminutively  of 
the  practice  of  labor,  under  penalty  of  being  obliged  to 
perform  that  which  he  endeavored  to  discredit."     The 
letter  of  this  law  died  as  the  College  grew  in  dignity,  but 
its  spirit  has  never  ceased  to  haunt  us. 

A  serious  rule  of  conduct,  to  give  the  best  results, 
should  not  be  taken  too  seriously,  and  it  is  reassuring 
to  note  the  robust  appearance  of  our  alumni,  and  to  re- 
call no  serious  case  of  injury  from  overwork. 

Yet  the  studious  spirit  prevails  here  as  far  as  pos- 
sible with  the  male,  human  animal  of  collegiate  age, 
and  Dartmouth  has  always  remained  identified  with 
northern  New  England.  Until  recent  years,  its  largest 
class  was  that  of  1842  ;  and  as  nearly  as  the  date  can  be 
fixed,  that  was  the  culminating  era  of  the  old  Puritan 
New  England.  After  the  war,  the  farmers  of  this 
region  enjoyed  a  short  return  of  prosperity.  In  that  era 
of  high  prices,  they  accumulated  a  little  money  which 
they  at  once  began  to  squander  on  schools  and  churches. 
The  effect  was  seen  in  the  seventies,  when  the  college 
classes  again  increased  in  numbers. 

In  later  years  as  emigration  to  the  West  was  re- 
newed, the  College  began  to  feel  the  departure  of  its 
patrons  and  the  need  of  a  new  departure  for  itself.  It 
was  in  those  days  that  a  panorama  was  advertised  at 
Norwich  of  scenes  from  Pilgrim's  Progress.  There  was 
still  a  strong  feeling  at  Hanover  against  the  influence 
of  the  stage  ;  but  this  drama  was  to  be  presented  in  a 
church,  and  its  ethical  value  was  so  forcibly  urged  that 

227 


Edwin  a  number  of  people  went  over,  and  were  much  edified. 
Webster  Toward  the  close,  the  slides  seemed  to  move  across  the 
Sanborn  s^age  slowly,  and  with  some  difficulty.  The  final  scene 
was  announced  as  the  Grand  Transformation,  introduc- 
ing a  view  of  the  land  of  Beulah  over  the  Delectable 
Mountains.  To  give  the  effect  of  sudden  transforma- 
tion, this  canvas  was  pushed  forward  quickly,  even  be- 
fore the  preceding  picture — of  Giant  Despair — had  been 
entirely  removed.  The  heavy  slide  moved  a  third  of 
the  way  across  the  stage  and  came  to  a  stop.  There 
were  sounds  of  pushing  and  lifting,  and  then  a 
pause.  In  this  expectant  hush  the  proprietor  was  heard 
to  exclaim,  behind  the  scenes,  in  husky — but  penetra- 
ting— tones,  "The  derned  thing  won't  go;  it  needs 
greasinV 

The  simile  is  apt  if  not  elegant.  In  its  eventful 
pilgrimage  Dartmouth  had  reached  a  point  where  it 
needed  the  push  of  an  active,  constructive  policy,  lubri- 
cated by  tact  and  sympathy  with  affairs.  Fortunately 
this  need  was  supplied.  We  have  kept  a  section  of 
Maine  and  the  clientage  which  comes  from  the  easterly 
watershed  of  the  Green  Mountains.  Massachusetts — 
there  she  stood.  We  have  annexed  a  large  part  of  her. 
We  have  reached  out  to  the  \Vest  for  men  of  the  Dart- 
mouth type.  The  West  is  geographically  our  natural 
field.  In  relation  to  Hanover  almost  everything  is 
West.  As  a  result,  we  review  the  path  already  trod 
from  the  serene  heights  of  the  Delectable  Mountains. 
"The  past  at  least  is  secure."  Looking  forward  to  an- 
other Centennial,  there  will  be  no  misgivings,  if  the 
present  management  consent  to  remain  in  charge 
throughout  the  coming  century. 

228 


The  most  serious  criticism  of  college  life  is  in  the  Edwin 
charge  now  current  that  it  breeds  extravagance  and  un-  Webster 
fitness  for  self-reliant  work.     It  is,  perhaps,  a  vice  inher-  Sanborn 
ent   in  all  liberal  culture  that  it  rather  fits  a  man  to 
make  the  most  out  of  life,   than  to  make  the  most  out 
of  his  neighbors.     But  we  may  say  to  the  anxious  par- 
ent— If  it  be  the  fate  of  your  son  to  go  through  life  with 
the  burden  of  a  liberal  education,  here  is  where  it  can 
be  applied  in  the  most  innocuous  form.      Here  is  a  col- 
lege of   which  self-reliance  is  the  chief  corner-stone  ; 
which  cultivates  not  only  the  humanities,  but  humanity; 
which  aims  at  developing  not  only  the  scholar,  but  the 
man  ;  not  only  at  imparting  knowledge,  but  the  power 
to  work  it  out  for  one's  self,  and  apply  it  to  the  facts  of 
life. 

A  young  man  who  can  acquire  habits  of  extrava- 
gance at  Hanover  is  possessed  of  rare  creative  genius. 
The  instinct  of  wholesome  economy  is  one  of  the  lega- 
cies from  our  New  England  ancestry.  Yet  it  was  not 
their  way  to  grudge  expense  for  true  essentials.  Look 
at  the  list  of  free  public  libraries.  Of  about  four  hun- 
dred, dependent  on  taxation,  Massachusetts  has  one 
hundred  and  seventy-nine ;  New  Hampshire  and  Illi- 
nois coming  next  with  thirty-five  each.  The  rest  are 
all  in  New  England  states  or  states  with  strong  New 
England  influence.  New  Hampshire  is,  perhaps,  best 
entitled  to  the  motto — Every  man  his  own  Carnegie. 
The  geographical  distribution  of  libraries  confirms  the 
suspicion  that  people  send  their  sons  to  Dartmouth  in 
close  proportion  to  the  general  diffusion  of  knowledge. 

For  an  individual  example  of  the  same  trait,  I 
would  cite  Elder  Shadrack  Spafford,  of  Beaver  Meadow, 

229 


Edwin  who  used  to  visit  Hanover.     Elder  Spafford  had  been 
Webster  four  times  married,  the  amount  of  household  work  he 
Sanborn  was  accustomed   to  exact  of  his  wives  not  being  favor- 
able to  conjugal  longevity.     He  happened  to  be  sitting 
in  the  store  when  some  one  read  the  statement  that  in 
certain  benighted  parts  of  India  a  wife  was  often  offered 
for  sale  for  a  sum  equivalent  to  about  fourteen  dollars. 
"Wall,"  was  the  comment  of  the  Elder,  "wall,  if  she's 
a  good  un,  she's  wuth  it.     She's  wuth  it." 

Our  ancestors  wanted  the  worth  of  their  sacrifice 
for  learning,  and  followed  their  ideals  in  education  with 
great  persistence.  The  continuity  essential  to  all  deep 
and  thorough  culture  is  of  special  value  to  a  college 
based  on  New  England  ideas.  To  the  English  mind, 
the  commendable  features  of  Yankee  character  are  the 
inheritance  of  pure  English  blood.  Yet  the  Puritan 
stock  at  home  has  achieved  nothing  noteworthy  and 
distinctive,  of  recent  years, — since  the  death  of  Crom- 
well. The  Dutch,  with  more  than  their  usual  mental 
agility,  after  the  lapse  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  years, 
are  aroused  to  the  discovery  that  the  seeds  of  New 
England  character  were  attached  to  the  garments  of 
the  Pilgrims  in  passing  through  Holland.  But  we 
have  as  yet  no  far  reaching  influence,  no  rich,  up- 
lifting literature,  no  profound  philosophy  in  spiritual 
things, — from  the  Pennsylvania  Dutch,  or  those  of 
Sleepy  Hollow. 

We  have  to  conclude  that  the  secret  was  in  the 
combination  of  a  serious,  energetic  people,  working  out 
the  same  vital  ideas,  amid  congenial  surroundings.  If 
so,  it  is  worth  while  not  to  lose  this  combination.  The 
fathers  wanted  to  get  on  in  the  world  :  to  be  something. 

230 


To  be  something  they  must  know  something,  and  to  fit  Edwin 
their  young  men  for  the  highest  service  of   American  Webster 
citizenship,  they  invented  the  American  college.  Sanbom 

It  was  the  work  of  Mr.  Webster  to  guard  this 
invention  from  infringement.  In  framing  their  in- 
stitutions the  early  Americans  showed  a  marvellous  fore- 
sight into  the  needs  of  the  people  who  were  to  develop 
the  country.  Daniel  Webster  was  heir  to  their  in- 
tuitions. Those  who  study  the  Dartmouth  College 
controversy  must  see  that  with  all  its  complications,  he 
was  guided  by  an  instinctive  purpose  to  save  what  he 
believed  to  be  a  sacred  inheritance. 

A  college  of  to-day  which  looked  to  the  eighteenth 
century  for  its  scholarship  would  also  be  looking  to  the 
eighteenth  century  for  its  scholars.  But  it  is  possible, 
while  expanding  in  size  and  scope,  to  keep  the  practi- 
cal spirit  of  the  early  College,  with  its  individuality, 
local  sentiment,  and  characteristic  mental  discipline. 

The  great  universities  have  grown  away  from  the 
college  traditions,  and  seem  to  be  leaving  this  field  to 
the  country  institutions.  They  can  hardly  keep  pace 
with  the  demand  for  elective,  professional,  and  special- 
ized training.  Such  demands  are  best  met  near  the 
rich  resources  of  the  cities  ;  their  libraries,  art  treasures, 
courts,  hospitals,  asylums  and  vaudeville  entertain- 
ments. But  the  universities  lack  the  unity  of  growth 
and  unity  of  structure  to  maintain  the  democratic  sim- 
plicity of  the  historic  college. 

There  is  a  point  beyond  which  their  facilities  fail 
to  facilitate.  The  young. man,  intent  upon  practical, 
economical  training,  not  as  an  accomplishment,  but 
for  the  accomplishment  of  the  best  work  in  life,  should 

23J 


Edwin  lift  up  his  eyes  unto  the  hills  from  whence  cometh  his 

Webster  help. 

Sanborn  jj-  js  a  trite  saying  that  our  great  men  came  from 

the  hill  towns.  The  rule  of  Uncle  Eben  Holden  that 
he  "never  swore  'less  'twas  necessary"  applies  to  the 
almost  equally  offensive  habit  of  bragging.  It  should 
only  be  indulged  in  when  occasion  demands  it.  But  an 
anniversary  is  such  an  occasion,  and  candor  compels  us 
to  admit  that  of  our  leading  statesmen  and  educators, 
men  of  influence  and  character,  merchant  princes  and 
captains  of  industry,  probably  ninety  per  cent  come 
directly  or  indirectly  from  rural  New  England.  If  a 
few  of  the  ninety  per  cent  should  be  traced  to  other 
origin,  we  might  use  the  argument  of  the  Perthshire 
man  who  claimed  that  Shakespeare  was  a  Scotchman. 
When  asked  the  reason  for  his  persistence,  he  said, 
"Wull,  mon,  his  abeelity  cairtainly  warrants  the  sup- 
poseetion." 

The  decay  of  rural  New  England  threatened  the 
supply  of  this  sort  of  men.  But  the  making  of  character 
and  manhood  has  finally  adapted  itself  to  the  new 
order  of  things.  Like  other  processes,  which  at  first 
were  industries  of  the  farm  and  household,  it  is  now 
chiefly  centered  in  large  manufacturing  establishments. 
One  of  these — which  we  are  visiting — is  just  now  con- 
cerned in  finding  storage  room  for  the  increasing  raw 
material  which  comes  in  the  form  of  freshmen.  There 
is  also  a  new  sort  of  appreciative  country  life  growing 
up  to  sustain  the  centers  of  education. 

"Whatever  skies  above  us  rise,  the  hills,  the  hills  are 
home." 


232 


That  is  what  they  are  for.     Old  Home  Week  is  growing  Edwin 
into  an  Old  Home  Year  and  the  Old  Home  life.  "Webster 

The  hills  are  also  a  school.  As  remarked  by  a  Sanborn 
recent  writer,  the  specializing  of  every  kind  of  work 
has  gone  so  far  that  the  real  provincial  narrowness  is 
found  in  the  cities.  Before  one  enters  the  narrow, 
confined  avenue  of  his  life  work  in  Boston  or  in  New 
York,  he  should  lay  the  foundation  of  broad,  cos- 
mopolitan culture  at  Hanover,  Amherst  or  Williams- 
town.  The  degree  of  Master  of  Arts  seems  to  lack  its 
full  meaning  in  the  hands  of  one  who  has  studied  the 
arts  of  man,  but  has  learned  nothing  from  nature, 
which  is  the  art  of  God. 

New  England  forces  lose  vitality  without  some 
reminder  of  New  England  hills.  The  Yankee  flourishes 
only,  as  expressed  by  a  fervid  orator,  where  he  is  "sur- 
rounded on  all  sides  by  the  nature  of  the  country."  In 
the  rolling,  diversified  country  of  the  Middle  West,  the 
Yankee  stock  maintains  a  noble  civilization,  but  farther 
away,  on  treeless,  sunbaked  plains,  it  loses  its  social 
and  economic  bearings  and  follows  the  strangest  of 
strange  gods,  with  a  devotion  which  varies  with  annual 
rainfall  and  prevalence  of  locusts.  The  place  to  revive 
the  spirit  of  the  fathers  is  where  it  reached  its  greatest 
intensity  in  the  rugged  scenes  and  tonic  air  of  northern 
New  England.  Not  that  a  college  to  attain  the  high- 
est culture  must  perch  on  the  summit  of  Mount  Washing- 
ton. The  ideal  location  is  among  hills  of  about  the 
size  and  contour  of  Balch's  Hill,  with  mountains  at  the 
correct  psychological  distance,  like  Ascutney  and  Moosi- 
lauke. 


233 


Edwin  In    the    neighboring    cemetery   is   a   stone    corn- 

Webster  meliorating  one  of  the  many  interesting  characters  who 
Sanborn  nave  Hved  at  Hanover,  named  Sally  Duget.  This 
woman  succumbed  more  abruptly  than  most  of  us  to  the 
Hanover  climate,  and  perished  in  a  snow  storm.  Han- 
over children  were  encouraged  to  wander  in  the  ceme- 
tery, in  gloomy  weather,  for  the  improving  associations, 
and  committed  to  memory  many  of  these  inscriptions. 
In  the  Duget  epitaph  is  one  phrase  which  I  have  con- 
verted to  my  own  use — "Under  the  guise  of  cheerful- 
ness she  hid  deep  woes." 

Under  the  guise  of  assumed  cheerfulness,  I  have 
been  endeavoring  to  hide,  probably  with  entire  success, 
a  serious  proposition  :  that  the  twentieth  century  opens 
in  striking  similarity  with  the  nineteenth  in  the 
need  for  educated  and  educating  public  spirit.  The 
eighteenth  century  had  been  fertile  in  liberal  ideas. 
The  period  a  hundred  years  ago  was  filled  with  re- 
joicings over  the  newly-found  rights  of  man.  The 
nineteenth  century  has  brought  an  equally  wonderful 
progress  in  material  expansion.  We  are  now  rejoicing 
in  great  commercial  prosperity.  But  the  old  New 
England  trait  of  prudence  is  not  to  be  neglected. 

For  nice  discrimination  in  the  use  of  caution,  no 
one  could  surpass  the  late  Horace  Frary.  Many  of  you 
recall  the  Dartmouth  Hotel — the  unconventional  attire 
of  its  proprietor ;  the  grace  in  dispensing  hospitality  ; 
the  expressive  soprano  voice  ;  the  vest,  rich  with  the 
spoils  of  time.  In  case  of  slight  illness  Mr.  Frary  made 
no  objection  to  a  physician.  There  came  a  time  when 
he  was  attacked  with  a  sudden  and  serious  malady.  Mrs. 
Frary  saw  Dr.  Crosby  coming  down  the  street,  and 

234 


started  to  call  him  in.     Mr.  Frary  raised  himself  in  bed  Edwin 
and  cried  out  in  terrified  appeal,    "Do  n't  let  him  in.  Webster 
Do  n't  let  the  critter  get  in.     This  ain't  no  time  to  be  Sanborn 
foolin'  with  doctors;  I  tell  ye,  I'm  sick." 

This  seems  to  betray  a  lack  of  confidence  in  one  of 
the  learned  professions  ;  but  in  its  esoteric  meaning  it 
breathes  the  profoundest  political  philosophy.  The 
time  for  a  nation  to  take  counsel  of  its  physicians  is 
when  it  is  well.  The  old-time  patriot  was  always  ready 
to  prescribe.  The  Commencement  oratory  of  1801  was 
full  of  heroic  sentiment  respecting  the  preservation  of 
our  liberties.  As  read  to-day,  the  language  of  those 
young  men,  without  money  or  influence,  on  the  north- 
ern frontier  of  the  new  nation — their  talk  of  saving  the 
Union — seems  like  a  huge  joke.  The  point  of  the  joke 
is  that  one  of  them  did  save  the  Union,  as  far  as  could 
be  done  in  his  day  by  one  human  being. 

The  passion  for  equal  rights  has  now  been  suc- 
ceeded by  the  passion  for  more  equal  wealth.  Our  an- 
cestors were  absorbed  with  questions  of  right,  appealing 
to  the  heart  and  conscience.  The  present  problems 
reach  more  deeply  into  the  ultimate  springs  of  human 
conduct.  They  touch  the  pocket. 

They  call  not  only  for  broad-minded,  humane 
statesmanship,  but  for  practical,  educated  common 
sense.  Poisons  brewed  in  the  seething  cities  of  Europe, 
must  be  counteracted  by  old-fashioned,  country-bred 
patriotism  made  in  America.  It  is  not  likely  that  su- 
preme public  service  will  again  be  rendered  by  a  single 
massive  and  commanding  intellect,  but  men  of  Dart- 
mouth can  be  relied  upon  to  keep  the  faith  of  the  fathers, 
and,  trained  in  sympathy  with  the  people,  to  voice  the 

235 


Edwin  sober  thought  of  the  nation  and  hold  up  the  higji  stand- 
Webster  ar(j  of  American  citizenship. 
Sanborn  

President  Tucker  :  Among  the  men  whom  we 
inevitably  recall  as  we  think  of  Mr.  Webster  in  his 
relation  to  the  Dartmouth  College  Case,  there  is  no 
stronger  nor  more  prophetic  figure  than  that  of  the  then 
youthful  president  of  the  College,  Francis  Brown.  We 
know  what  he  wrought  in  his  time,  we  know  what  he 
left  as  a  heritage,  not  only  in  his  work  but  in  the  stock 
which  he  planted  here.  I  have  the  pleasure  of  present- 
ing to  the  audience,  Francis  Brown  of  the  third  genera- 
tion. 


Speech  of  Professor  Francis 
Brown,  D.D.,  LL.  D.f  '7O. 

Mr.  President,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen  : — 

OUR  days  ago  I  had  no  hope  of  being  here  this 
evening.  A  ship  struggling  with  heavy  weather 
in  mid-ocean  held  out  no  promise.  I  had  gone  so 


F 


far  as  to  frame  the  telegram  which  I  should  have  the 
pain  of  sending  from  New  York  this  afternoon  explaining 
my  absence.  And  even  now  that  fortune  has  been  kinder 
to  me  than  I  had  a  right  to  expect,  there  are  two  seri- 
ous drawbacks  to  the  full  satisfaction  of  the  evening  for 
me.  One  is  the  deep  regret  at  not  having  enjoyed  with 
you  the  feast  of  good  things  that  has  preceded  this  ban- 
quet for  the  last  two  days.  The  orations  and  the 
choruses  and  the  illuminations  have  not  been  for  me.  I 
have  not  even  had  the  opportunity  of  attiring  myself  in 
the  festal  garments  in  which  so  many  of  my  brother 

236 


alumni  have  been  bravely  disporting  themselves.  But  Francis 
the  more  serious  drawback  lies  in  the  difficulty  of  the  Brown 
subject  which  has  been  presented  to  me.  Since  the 
career  of  Daniel  Webster  is  not  complete  without  the 
history  of  the  Dartmouth  College  Case,  and  since  in 
the  Dartmouth  College  Case  the  active  head  of  the  Col- 
lege was  closely  concerned,  it  has  seemed  fitting  to  you, 
sir,  that  some  reference  should  be  made  here  to  the  con- 
nection of  President  Brown  with  that  Case.  And  my 
problem  is,  within  brief  limits  of  time,  and  without  do- 
ing substantial  injustice  to  the  theme,  to  discuss  it  in 
terms  befitting  the  modesty  of  the  man  himself,  and  not 
unbecoming  in  one  who  bears  his  name.  In  this  diffi- 
cult situation  it  has  seemed  to  me  that  the  path  of  safety 
was  the  path  of  simplicity.  Therefore,  without  attempt- 
ing to  analyze  or  weigh  the  precise  service  of  President 
Brown,  I  shall  try  merely  to  indicate  a  few  aspects  of 
the  Dartmouth  College  Case  as  they  presented  them- 
selves to  him. 

In  the  first  place,  then,  the  struggle  into  which  he 
entered  was  for  him  a  moral  issue.  It  was  a  moral  issue 
in  the  sense  of  not  being  a  mere  legal  battle,  and  in  the 
sense  also  of  not  being  a  mere  personal  concern.  In  a 
legal  battle,  as  such,  he  would  have  had  deep  and  intel- 
ligent interest.  In  personal  affairs  as  such  he  would 
have  had  that  concern  which  becomes  every  man.  But 
the  Case  of  the  College  presented  itself  to  him  primarily 
under  its  moral  aspect,  as  involving  great  and  enduring 
principles  of  human  life  and  action.  His  relation  to  it 
cannot  be  appreciated  without  remembering  that  the 
difficulty  did  not  originate  under  his  administration. 
He  found  it  when  he  came  upon  the  stage.  It  was  not 

237 


Francis  of  his  choice,  that,  in  one  aspect  of  this  difficulty,  it 
Brown  seemed  to  bring  him  into  conflict  with  the  authorities 
of  the  Commonwealth.  He  was  a  native  of  this  state 
and  loved  and  honored  it.  He  was  born,  as  Webster 
himself  was  born,  before  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States  was  adopted.  He  had  that  reverence  for  State- 
hood which  belonged  to  the  time  of  those  beginnings, 
and  which  had  not  begun  to  be  overshadowed  as  it  has 
been  for  some  minds  in  recent  years, — not  wholly  to 
our  good, — by  the  sole  conception  of  the  national  life. 
He  had  no  zeal,  therefore,  in  any  contest  which  opposed 
him  to  the  authorities  of  the  Commonwealth.  But  the 
College  Case  embodied  for  him  that  which  he  revered 
with  the  profoundest  forces  of  his  mind  and  heart.  It 
meant  for  him  the  confidence  of  donors,  it  meant  for 
him  the  solemnity  of  prayers,  it  meant  the  consecration 
of  lives,  it  meant  a  history  already  worth  commemorat- 
ing and  preserving  as  men  had  been  trained  and  fitted 
for  the  work  of  life  ;  the  whole  embodiment  of  the  Col- 
lege in  its  sacredness  and  power  entered  into  his  con- 
ception of  the  Case,  and  it  seemed  to  him  that,  standing 
as  he  did  and  representing  what  he  did,  a  moral  impera- 
tive was  upon  him  which  he  dared  not  refuse  to  follow, 
and  that  in  fighting  for  the  College  he  was  obeying 
God. 

In  the  next  place  the  struggle  appealed  to  him  as 
a  demand  upon  intellect.  He  felt  that  the  utmost  pow- 
ers of  his  mind  were  claimed  by  the  College  in  that  criti- 
cal time,  in  reference  to  the  question  of  its  right  to  be. 
The  head  of  a  college,  placed  as  Dartmouth  College  was 
in  those  years,  he  felt  must  know  his  ground,  must 
command  the  situation.  Whether  or  not  he  appeared  be- 

238 


fore  the  public  eye  as  a  leader  in  the  work,  he  must  Francis 
be  within  himself  conscious  in  some  degree  of  the  Brown 
mastery  of  leadership.  The  situation,  in  its  many  phases, 
was,  of  course,  discussed  privately,  a  hundred  times  over, 
in  advance  of  its  public  argument  before  the  courts,  and 
I  understand  that  he  was  not  without  gifts  enabling 
him  to  enter  into  the  details  of  the  Case,  master  them  in 
their  somewhat  complicated  history  and  relations,  and 
hold  them  firmly  and  steadily,  keeping  their  balance 
and  their  proportion,  and  so,  from  time  to  time,  from 
month  to  month,  from  year  to  weary  year,  rendering 
real  service  to  those  who  were  called  to  plead,  in  all  the 
various  steps  and  stages  through  which  the  struggle 
passed  till  its  final  and  crowning  triumph. 

In  the  third  place,  the  struggle  presented  itself  to 
his  mind  as  hopeful  because  of  its  great  alliances.  These 
alliances  involved  mutual  trust,  a  common  responsibili- 
ty, the  sharing  in  one  great  work.  The  abundance  of 
the  allies  he  found,  the  trustworthiness  and  comfort  of 
them,  he  appreciated  and  never  belittled.  The  alliance 
of  the  students  of  his  time  was  something  which  he 
prized  beyond  words.  I  believe  that  he  had  personal 
attractiveness  and  winning  power,  and  that  students 
were  drawn  towards  him  ;  that  seeing  in  him,  in  some 
sense,  an  embodiment  of  the  institution,  under  whose 
care  they  were  studying  and  which  they  were  learning 
to  love,  they  loved  it  in  him.  The  names  of  some  of 
those  who  were  undergraduates  in  his  time  will  suggest 
the  larger  company  of  men,  who,  as  students,  held  loy- 
ally to  the  work  of  the  College  through  all  that  trying 
time.  Such  names  as  those  of  George  P.  Marsh,  Judge 
Nathan  Crosby,  Judge  Nesmith,  Rufus  Choate,  all 

239 


Francis  graduated  during  his  brief  term  of  service  as  president, 
Brown  remind  us  of  the  choice  spirits  among  the  undergraduates 
of  those  years,  and  of  the  worthy  alliance  on  which  he 
depended  when  he  trusted  them.  Then  there  was  the 
faculty,  working  under  difficulties  that  we  can  hardly 
appreciate,  and  doing  faithfully  the  work  that  was  set 
them  to  do.  There  were  the  trustees,  holding  steadfastly 
on  their  way,  hoping  for  the  light  that  was  to  come. 
There  were  of  course,  also,  those  figures  that  come  back 
most  familiarly  to  us  all  as  we  review  the  Case,  those 
lawyers  of  New  Hampshire  who  stood  for  the  College 
here,  those  who  represented  it  before  the  Supreme  Court 
of  the  nation,  and,  chief  of  all,  the  great  advocate  to 
whom  the  success  of  the  College,  by  common  agreement, 
was  most  largely  due.  It  was  in  alliance  with  these  men 
and  by  such  alliance  alone  that  he  felt  success  for  the 
right  could  be  gained. 

Just  one  aspect  more  I  shall  venture  to  mention. 
He  regarded  his  concern  in  the  struggle  of  the  College 
as  an  addition  to  the  common  daily  work  of  the  presi- 
dency, and  not  as  a  substitute  for  it.  It  seems  to  me 
that  the  ethical  power  involved  in  a  statement  of  that 
kind  is  no  unworthy  matter  for  us  to  think  of  to-night. 
It  was  not  his  to  devote  himself  exclusively  to  repre- 
senting the  College  before  the  legal  tribunals  of  the  state 
and  nation,  or  even  before  that  wider  tribunal  in  which 
verdicts  are  given  by  the  agreement  of  right-minded 
men.  He  felt  much  of  the  burden  of  a  champion,  but 
this  obligation  was  in  a  certain  sense  a  mere  adjunct  to 
his  chief  activity.  The  college  life  had  to  go  on,  the 
young  men  who  were  here  had  to  be  taught,  all  the  de- 
tails of  college  work  had  to  be  managed,  and  the  double 

240 


strain,  it  is  easy  to  believe,  was  that  which  brought  his  Francis 
life  to  so  early  an  end.  And  he  himself  did  not  grudge  Brown 
it.  He  gave  all  he  had.  He  gave  himself  absolutely. 
He  spent  his  powers  without  reserve.  The  vital  force 
was  exhausted  at  the  end  of  the  struggle  and  he  died 
the  year  after  the  decision  was  given.  He  had  not 
been  called  to  lead  the  forces  on  the  battle-field.  He  was 
the  commander  of  the  garrison,  holding  on,  while  the 
brilliant  tactician  and  general  was  waging  the  fight  out 
in  the  open.  The  captain  of  the  garrison,  whose  first 
duty  is  within  the  walls,  but  whose  heart  and  brain  are 
in  the  hot  battle  outside,  may  have  an  ethical  force  in 
him  quite  equal  to  that  of  the  active  leader  who  wins 
the  battle.  He  may  not  claim  the  credit  of  the  victory, 
but  he  may  have  greatly  helped  to  make  the  victory 
worth  the  while. 

For  such  reasons  as  these,  it  is,  perhaps,  appropriate 
that  President  Brown  should  be  remembered  in  the 
Webster  Celebration.  I  have  in  my  possession  the 
autograph  letter  which  Mr.  Webster  wrote  to  him  just 
after  the  decision  was  rendered  in  Washington.  If  it 
had  been  accessible  to  me  this  morning  I  should  have 
brought  it  with  me.  Not  that  it  is  unknown ;  it  has 
been  published.  But  there  is  some  interest  in  the 
paper  itself  with  Mr.  Webster's  handwriting  and 
signature  upon  it.  It  bears  perpetual  witness  to  the 
close  relation  between  Daniel  Webster,  the  great 
jurist,  and  the  president  of  the  College,  doing  his  quiet 
work  here,  and  standing  bravely  for  what  he  believed 
the  right. 

I  must  not  say  more  of  him  now.  He  sleeps  not 
far  from  this  spot.  His  son  has  been  laid  to  rest  beside 

24J 


Francis  him.  And  there  some  day  his  son's  son  hopes  also 
Brown  to  lie.  I  have  no  quarrel  with  those  who  in  thinking 
of  the  rewards  of  the  future  dwell  upon  crowns  and 
golden  harps, — having  some  understanding  of  what 
these  things  symbolize, — but  I  should  be  sorry  for  the 
man  who  was  looking  forward  to  the  crown  without 
service  rendered,  or  to  whom  the  opportunity  for 
larger  service  was  not  the  brightest  diadem .  For  noble 
minds,  the  greatest  reward  must  lie  in  the  service,  and 
not  in  the  wages  of  service;  work  done  of  which  the 
result  lives  on  after  the  workman  has  stopped  working, 
is  itself  the  truest  reward.  And,  in  that  sense  again,  it 
seems  not  unfitting  to  join  in  this  place  the  names  of 
Daniel  Webster  and  President  Brown.  By  faithful 
service  men  live  and  by  the  fruits  of  it  institutions  grow 
great  and  endure.  If  Dartmouth  is  growing  great  and 
shall  endure,  the  ground  of  it  must  be  sought  in  the 
service,  great  or  small,  of  many  faithful  ones  working  to- 
gether with  consecrated  purpose,  who  find  a  stimulus  in 
the  undying  hope  of  making  their  lives  worth  while  for 
their  College,  and  for  their  country,  and  for  the  world. 


President  Tucker:  When  we  wish  to  bring  the  past 
and  the  present  of  the  College  together,  there  is  one 
man  amongst  us  in  whom  they  meet  on  equal  terms, 
Judge  Cross,  of  the  class  of  1841. 


242 


SpeecK    of    tKe   Honorable    David  David 
Cross,  LL.  D.,  '41.  Ooss 

Mr.  President  and  Brothers — and  you,  so  near  and  yet  so 
far  [apostrophizing  the  ladies  in  the  distant  gal- 
lery]:— 

feel  oppressed,  Mr.  President,  as  I  rise  to  speak 
on  this  occasion,  as  never  before.  Voices  speak 
to  me  that  do  not  to  any  of  you.  Sixty-four 
years  ago  I  came  to  Hanover  a  student.  The  boys  that 
were  with  me  then,  where  are  they  ?  Echo  answers, 
"Where?''  A  few  survive.  Most  are  gone.  Voices 
speak  to  me  in  happy  memory.  Voices  speak  to  me  in 
solemn,  sad  recollection,  and  it  seems  as  if  I  must  pour 
out  my  soul  here  to-night  and  talk  of  things  that  I 
have  felt  and  have  seen  and  have  known,  connected 
with  dear  old  Dartmouth  College.  But,  brethren,  last 
week  I  received  a  summons  from  our  President,  whom 
we  all  delight  to  honor  and  obey,  saying,  "Come  to  the 
Webster  Banquet  and  talk  six  or  eight  minutes  on  Dan- 
iel Webster's  training  at  the  New  Hampshire  bar."  I 
yield  to  the  proprieties  of  the  occasion,  I  subdue  the 
joyous  thoughts  of  college  life  and  present  simply  a 
lawyer's  brief. 

In  1818,  at  thirty-six  years  of  age,  Mr.  Webster 
made  his  argument  in  the  Dartmouth  College  Case 
before  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States.  It  was 
addressed,  as  Rufus  Choate  has  said,  "To  a  tribunal 
presided  over  by  Marshall,  assisted  by  Washington, 
Livingston,  Johnson,  Story,  Todd,  and  Duvall — a 
tribunal  unsurpassed  on  earth  of  all  that  gives  il- 
lustration to  a  bench  of  law  and  sustained  and  venerated 

243 


David  by  a  noble  bar."  His  opponents  were  William  Wirt, 
Cross  Holmes,  and  other  most  illustrious  lawyers  of  the  time. 
The  legal  argument  occupied  five  hours  and  the  per- 
oration, as  described  by  Professor  Goodrich,  was  the  most 
brilliant  ever  heard  in  that  court.  The  judges  and  the 
listeners  were  moved  to  tears  as  Mr.  Webster  appealed, 
with  eloquent  words  and  trembling  lips,  for  the  life  of 
the  College.  His  argument  prevailed  and  a  construction 
of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  was  then  given 
of  far-reaching  importance,  not  only  for  this  College, 
but  for  every  eleemosynary  institution  in  the  United 
States.  The  reputation  of  Mr.  Webster  before,  as  a 
lawyer,  was  local,  but  it  immediately  became  national, 
and  from  that  time  he  was  the  acknowledged  great 
lawyer. 

On  this  one  hundredth  anniversary  of  his  gradu- 
ation, his  characteristics  as  student,  scholar,  lawyer, 
diplomat  and  statesman  have  been  presented  in  fitting 
eloquent  tribute,  but  the  one  distinguishing  act  of  his 
life,  the  one  which  comes  nearest  to  our  hearts,  the  one 
which  links  his  name  indissolubly  with  us  and  our 
College  is  that  argument  in  1818  which  won  for  him 
the  title  of  "Refounder  of  Dartmouth  College." 

Up  to  the  time  of  this  argument  nearly  all  his 
education  and  training  had  been  in  New  Hampshire. 
Before  reviewing  his  training  at  the  New  Hampshire 
bar  I  think  it  desirable  to  speak  briefly  of  him  as  a  col- 
lege boy  and  law  student.  His  college  education  and 
preparation  for  the  law  was  not  the  result  of  any 
special  planning  by  himself  or  his  parents.  He  went 
to  college  because  his  father,  like  other  New  England 
fathers,  wished  to  give  his  children  the  benefit  of  an 

244 


education  which  he  had  no  opportunity  of  acquiring  for  David 
himself,  and    because  his  son  exhibited  a  passion    for  Cross 
reading  and  study.     He   read  every  book  within  his 
reach  and  committed  to  memory  almost  everything  he 
read  so  that  there  was  no  period  in  his  after  life  when 
he  was  not  able  to  repeat  verbatim  what  he  had  learned 
in  his  boyhood.     He  read  Don  Quixote  at  one  sitting, 
or  during  one  night ;  he  committed  to  memory  much 
of  the  Bible,  Watts'  Hymns,  whole  books  of  poetry  and 
many  of  the  great  speeches  of  distinguished  men. 

The  story  as  given  in  Mr.  Webster's  autobiography 
of  that  ride  from  his  home  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Woods'  school, 
when  his  father  first  spoke  of  his  intention  to  give  him 
a  college  education,  is  a  pathetic  revelation  of  a  son's 
tender  reverence  and  appreciation  of  a  father's  self- 
sacrificing  love.  It  reveals  also  the  desire  and  ambition 
of  the  son  for  an  education. 

From  all  that  I  can  learn  from  his  autobiography, 
his  letters  published  by  his  son  Fletcher,  from  tradition 
and  biography,  I  do  not  believe  that  Mr.  Webster,  before 
he  commenced  the  practice  of  law,  had  any  idea  of  his 
superior  ability  or  the  high  position  he  would  attain. 
He  was  induced  to  study  law  by  his  father's  wish, 
rather  than  from  any  well  considered  thought  or  plan 
of  his  own. 

There  has  been  a  sort  of  tradition  that  at  one  time 
he  contemplated  studying  for  the  ministry,  but  I  cannot 
find  any  facts  to  confirm  such  report.  It  does  seem  to 
me,  however,  that  if  he  had  been  urged  to  the  study  of 
theology  by  his  father,  as  he  was  urged  to  the  study  of 
law,  he  would  have  become  a  great  theologian  instead 
of  a  great  lawyer. 

245 


David  His  letters  to  his  brother  Ezekiel,  his  classmates, 
Gross  Bingham,  Merrill  and  others,  written  while  in  college 
and  later,  are  delightful  reading  and  give  us  a  view  of 
Webster  such  as  no  one  can  know  who  has  looked  upon 
him  only  as  the  great  expounder  of  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States. 

I  am  tempted  to  quote  extensively  from  his  cor- 
respondence because  these  letters  bring  him  before  us 
as  a  student,  as  a  friend  and  brother;  intensely  human, 
full  of  joy,  poetry,  and  the  humor  of  life,  with  a  mind  of 
sincere  honesty  of  purpose  and  devotion  to  truth,  duty, 
and  religion,  and  a  heart  of  boundless  wealth  of  af- 
fection for  family  and  friends. 

Thirty  young  men  graduated  in  the  class  of  1801, 
eleven  became  lawyers,  of  whom  not  one  attained  dis- 
tinction in  his  profession  except  Webster. 

He  was  in  Mr.  Thompson's  office  nearly  three  years 
and  in  Christopher  Gore's  office  in  Boston  a  few  months  ; 
was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  Suffolk  County,  Massachu- 
setts, in  June,  1 805;  returned  to  Boscawen  and  remained 
about  two  years,  and  removed  to  Portsmouth,  in  1807. 
In  a  letter  to  his  classmate  Bingham,  dated  at  Fryeburg, 
May,  1802,  he  wrote,  "Now,  I  will  enumerate  the  in- 
ducements that  draw  me  towards  law.  First,  and 
principally,  it  is  my  father's  wish.  He  does  not  dictate, 
it  is  true,  but  how  much  short  of  dictation  is  the  mere 
wish  of  a  parent,  whose  labors  of  life  are  wasted  on 
favors  to  his  children.  Even  the  delicacy  with  which 
this  wish  is  expressed,  gives  it  more  effect  than  it 
would  have  in  the  form  of  a  command.  Secondly,  my 
friends  generally  wish  it.  They  are  urgent  and  press- 
ing. My  father  even  offers  me — I  will  sometime  tell 

246 


you  what — and  Mr.  Thompson  offers  my  tuition  gratis,  David 
and  to  relinquish  his  stand  to  me."  Cross 

May  3,  1802,  in  a  letter  to  Fuller  he  says,  '  'The  law 
is  certainly,  as  it  seems  to  me,  rather  hard  study  and  to 
mollify  it  with  some  literary  amusements  I  should  think 
profitable." 

In  a  letter  to  his  classmate,  Merrill,  January,  1803, 
he  wrote,  "This  law  reading,  Thomas,  has  no  tendency 
to  add  the  embellishments  of  literature  to  a  student's 
acquisitions.  Our  books  are  written  in  a  hard,  didactic 
style,  interspersed  on  every  page  with  the  mangled 
pieces  of  murdered  Latin." 

In  a  letter  to  Mr.  Cook,  June,  1803,  he  wrote,  UI  am 
not  informed  what  profession  you  are  determined  to 
study,  but  if  it  be  law,  permit  me  to  tell  you  a  little 
what  you  must  expect.  My  experience  in  the  study  is 
indeed  short,  but  I  have  learnt  a  little  about  it.  First 
then,  you  must  bid  adieu  to  all  hopes  of  meeting  with 
a  single  author  who  pretends  to  elegance  of  style  or 
sweetness  of  observation." 

In  November,  1803,  he  wrote  to  Merrill,  "Accuracy 
and  diligence  are  much  more  necessary  to  a  lawyer, 
than  great  comprehension  of  mind,  or  brilliancy  of  tal- 
ent. His  business  is  to  refine,  define,  and  split  hairs, 
to  look  into  authorities,  and  compare  cases.  A  man 
can  never  gallop  over  the  fields  of  law  on  Pegasus,  nor 
fly  across  them  on  the  wing  of  oratory.  If  he  would 
stand  on  terra  firma  he  must  descend  ;  if  he  would  be  a 
great  lawyer,  he  must  first  consent  to  be  only  a  great 
drudge." 

In  his  Autobiography  Mr.  Webster  said,  "I  read 
Coke  on  Littleton  through  without  understanding  a 

247 


David  quarter  part  of  it.  Why  disgust  and  discourage  a  boy 
Cross  by  telling  him  that  he  must  break  into  his  profession 
through  such  a  wall  as  reading  Coke?  I  really  often 
despaired.  I  thought  I  never  could  make  myself  a 
lawyer  and  was  almost  going  back  to  the  business  of 
school  teaching." 

In  1805  in  a  letter  to  Merrill,  from  Boston,  he 
wrote,  "Gifford's  Life  and  Posthumous  Works,  Moore's 
Travels  in  France  and  Italy,  et  pauca  alia  similia,  have 
rescued  me  from  the  condemnation  of  doing  nothing. 
At  present,  I  am  in  earnest  in  the  study  of  the  French 
language,  and  can  now  translate  about  as  much,  for  a 
task,  as  we  could  of  Tully  in  our  Freshman  year." 

In  May,  1805,  in  a  letter  to  Bingham,  written  at 
Boscawen:  "You  must  know  that  I  have  opened  a  shop 
in  this  village  for  the  manufacture  of  justice  writs. 
Other  mechanics  do  pretty  well  here,  and  I  am  deter- 
mined to  try  my  luck  among  others."  And  in  one 
dated  January,  1806,  "My  business  has  been  just  about 
so,  so ;  its  quantity  less  objectionable  than  its  quality." 

At  the  September  term,  1805,  he  entered  in  the 
Superior  Court  of  Hillsborough  county,  at  Hopkinton, 
twenty-two  writs  and  argued  two  causes  before  the  jury 
in  the  presence  of  his  father,  one  of  the  judges  upon  the 
bench.  These  causes  were  Haddock  v.  Woodward  and 
Corson  v.  Corson,  both  of  small  importance.  He  won 
the  former  and  lost  tKe  latter.  Parker  Noyes,  one  of 
the  most  skilful  practitioners  in  the  state  was  his  oppos- 
ing counsel.  The  original  writs  are  on  file  in  the  office 
of  the  Superior  Court  at  Nashua. 

The  next  spring  he  was  assigned  by  the  court  to 
defend  a  criminal  for  murder  in  the  Grafton  County 

248 


Court.      The  murder  was  of  such  an  atrocious  nature   David 
and  so  unprovoked  that  Webster  could  find  only  one   Cross 
ground  for  defence — that  of  insanity.     The  argument 
of  Webster  for  the  defence  attracted  wide  attention  at 
the  time  and  gained  him  a  reputation  in  all  that  region 
of  New  Hampshire  as  the  most  adroit  and  skilful  law- 
yer of  the  state. 

Mr.  Webster's  real  life  as  a  lawyer  commenced  in 
1807  in  Portsmouth.  The  men  practising  in  Rocking- 
ham  County  during  the  nine  years  he  lived  and  practised 
there  constituted  a  body  of  lawyers  hardly  equalled  by 
the  same  number  at  any  time  in  this  country.  To  give 
their  names  is  sufficient  for  any  lawyer  to  recall  some- 
thing of  the  wonderful  ability  and  achievements  of  these 
men  at  the  bar  in  New  Hampshire,  in  Massachusetts, 
and  in  Washington.  Among  them  were  Joseph  Story, 
Samuel  Dexter,  Theophilus  Parsons,  of  Massachusetts, 
Jeremiah  Smith,  William  Plummer,  George  Sullivan, 
Ichabod  Bartlett  and  Jeremiah  Mason  of  New  Hamp- 
shire. George  Sullivan  had  then  been  eleven  years  at 
the  bar,  William  Plummer  thirteen,  and  Jeremiah  Smith 
twenty-three  years,  while  Ichabod  Bartlett  was  four 
years  later. 

The  biographer  of  William  Plummer,  in  speaking 
of  the  Rockingham  Bar  at  this  time,  says,  "The  bar  was 
well  denominated  at  this  period  of  its  greatest  strength 
'the  arena  of  giants.'  It  indeed  witnessed  the  strife 
of  Titans.  Weak  men  did  not  mingle  in  it ;  strong 
men  felt  their  need  of  strength."  Judge  Story  charac- 
terized it  as  one  of  "vast  law  learning  and  prodigious 
intellectual  power." 


249 


David          Jeremiah   Smith   was  profoundly   learned   in  the 
Cross  common  law  and  a  most  accomplished  scholar,  superior 
in  exact  scholarship  to  either  Mason  or  Webster. 

Mason  and  Smith  had  remarkable,  and,  perhaps, 
equal  industry  in  the  preparation  of  causes;  Smith 
fortifying  his  position  with  accurate  authority  while 
Mason  trusted  more  to  his  native  strength  and  force  of 
reason. 

The  biographer  of  Theophilus  Parsons  says  that 
"The  reform  which  Judge  Smith  began  was  effectually 
carried  out  and  the  pleading  in  New  Hampshire  was 
probably  as  accurate  and  skilful  as  in  any  state  of  the 
Union."  Joel  Parker  said  of  Smith  that  "under  him  the 
practice  of  law  was  reduced  to  practical  science." 

George  Sullivan  and  Ichabod  Bartlett  were  both 
eminent  in  their  profession  and  would  rank  at  any  time 
among  the  best  lawyers  in  the  state.  They,  however, 
were  inferior  in  many  points  to  Mason,  and  Smith  and 
Webster. 

Jeremiah  Smith  by  his  learning,  his  industry  and 
great  ability,  helped  Webster.  He  was  aided  undoubt- 
edly by  the  other  eminent  men  named,  but  he  was 
trained  more  by  Jeremiah  Mason  than  by  all  others.  I 
believe  that  his  association  with  Jeremiah  Mason  dur- 
ing his  nine  years  of  law  practice  in  New  Hampshire, 
helped  train  Webster's  mind  not  alone  for  law  and  for 
the  exhibition  of  profound  learning  as  a  lawyer,  but 
as  well  for  statesmanship  and  for  conciseness  and  clear- 
ness, such  as  he  afterwards  exhibited  in  his  Bunker 
Hill  speeches,  theGirard  Will  Case,  the  reply  to  Hayne 
of  South  Carolina,  in  the  trial  of  Knapp  at  Salem,  the 
Dartmouth  College  and  other  celebrated  cases. 

250 


Mr.  Webster  once  said,  "When  I  went  to  Ports-  David 
mouth  I  was  a  young   man   of   twenty-four   and   Mr.  Cross 
Mason  forty.     He  was  then  at  the  head  of  the  bar,  and 
was  employed  in  nearly  all  the  great  cases.     He  was  a 
terror  to  young  lawyers,  but  we  traveled  together  and 
roomed  together  and  he  was  one  of  my  earliest,  truest, 
and  best  friends." 

Mr.  Choate  once  asked  Webster's  opinion  of  Mason, 
and  among  other  things  he  said,  "I  regard  Jeremiah 
Mason  as  eminently  superior  to  any  other  lawyer  whom 
I  have  ever  met.  I  would  rather,  with  my  own  ex- 
perience (and  I  have  had  some  pretty  tough  experiences 
with  him) ,  meet  them  all  combined  in  a  case  than  to 
meet  him  .alone  and  single  handed.  He  was  the 
keenest  lawyer  I  have  ever  met  or  read  about.  If  a 
man  had  Jeremiah  Mason  and  he  did  not  get  his  case, 
no  human  ingenuity  or  learning  could  get  it." 

Mr.  Webster,  late  in  life  said,  "If  you  were  to  ask 
me  who  was  the  greatest  lawyer  in  the  country  I  should 
answer,  John  Marshall,  but  if  you  took  me  by  the 
throat  and  pinned  me  to  the  wall  and  demanded  my 
real  opinion  I  should  be  compelled  to  say  it  was  Jeremiah 
Mason."  At  another  time  he  said,  "Mason's  method  of 
argument  led  me  to  study  my  own  style  and  set  about 
reform  ing  it." 

In  November,  1849,  Mr.  Webster  introduced  reso- 
lutions before  the  United  States  Court  in  honor  of 
Jeremiah  Mason,  then  lately  deceased,  and  a  part  of  one 
of  these  resolutions  was  in  these  words,  "In  the  fact 
that  the  state  of  New  Hampshire  now  possesses  such 
a  system  of  law  whose  gladsome  light  has  shone  in 
other  states,  are  seen  both  the  product  and  the  monu- 

25* 


David  ment  of  his  labors,  less  conspicuous,  if  not  less  real 
Cross  than  as  if  embodied  in  codes  and  institutions  bearing 
his  name." 

In  his  remarks  upon  that  occasion,  he  said,  "I  am 
bound  to  say  that  of  my  own  professional  discipline  and 
attainments,  whatever  they  may  be,  I  owe  much  to 
that  close  attention  to  the  discharge  of  my  duties  which 
I  was  compelled  to  pay  for  nine  succesive  years,  from 
day  to  day  by  Mr.  Mason's  efforts  and  arguments  at  the 
bar.  'Fas  est  ab  hoste  doceri;^  and  I  must  have 
been  unintelligent,  indeed,  not  to  have  learned  some- 
thing from  the  constant  display  of  that  power  which 
I  had  so  much  occasion  to  see  and  feel." 

It  is  well  authenticated  by  biographers  of  Mr. 
Webster  that  his  style  before  he  had  known  Mason  had 
been  somewhat  florid ;  afterwards  it  was  terse,  simple 
and  graphic. 

Mr.  Lodge  says,  "Fortune  showered  many  favors 
upon  Mr.  Webster,  but  none  more  valuable  than  that  of 
having  Jeremiah  Mason  as  his  chief  opponent  at  the 
New  Hampshire  bar.  He  gave  Mr.  Webster  his  friend- 
ship, staunch  and  unfailing,  until  his  death.  He  gave 
freely  also  of  his  wisdom  and  experience  in  advice  and 
counsel.  The  strong  qualities  of  Mr.  Webster's  mind 
fully  developed  by  constant  practice  and  under  such 
influences.  In  a  word,  the  unequalled  power  of  stating 
facts  or  principles  which  was  a  predominant  quality  of 
Mr.  Webster's  genius  grew  steadily  with  a  vigorous 
vitality,  while  his  eloquence  developed  in  a  similar 
striking  fashion.  But  the  best  lesson  Mr.  Webster 
learned  from  his  wary,  yet  daring  antagonist,  was  in 
regard  to  style." 

252 


In  1806  Mr.  Webster  was  a  country  lawyer,  twenty-  David 
four  years  of  age,  bringing  suits  for  the  collection  of  Cross 
small  debts  and  other  trifling  causes  of  action,  trying 
them  before  uneducated  justices  of  the  peace  who, 
according  to  custom,  decided  for  the  lawyer  employing 
them,  and  occasionally  also  contending  in  the  higher 
courts  with  sharp  practitioners,  like  Parker  Noyes. 
His  annual  income  at  this  time  did  not  exceed  six  hun- 
dred dollars.  To  remain  there  would  tend  to  make  him 
like  his  contestants,  or  more  likely,  drive  him  from 
the  p  rfession. 

More  than  most  men  Mr.  Webster  needed  the  spur 
and  excitement  of  a  great  cause  and  a  strong  opponent 
to  bring  out  his  best  mental  resources.  At  Portsmouth, 
in  1807,  he  immediately  felt  the  necessity  for  his 
utmost  effort.  Then  he  began  to  see  the  "gladsome 
light  of  jurisprudence"  and  to  understand  the  funda- 
mental principles  of  common  law  and  equity. 

Then  he  first  really  discovered  himself  ;  then  he  put 
on  the  giant  armor  of  his  knighthood  and  with  exulting 
heart  met  men  of  his  own  mental  strength  and  of  his 
own  high  ideals  and  aspirations. 

It  was  his  seven  years  at  Portsmouth  that  developed 
and  trained  him  to  become  the  "first  of  American 
lawyers  and  the  first  of  American  statesmen." 

From  all  that  I  can  learn  of  Mr.  Webster  and  his 
contemporaries  ;  from  history  and  biography  and  his 
own  writings,  I  arrive  at  the  conclusion  that  it  was 
during  his  nine  years'  practice  of  law  in  New  Hamp- 
shire that  he  was  trained  and  trained  himself  in  his 
knowledge  of  the  common  law,  in  the  preparation  of 
causes  for  the  jury  and  the  court ;  in  the  cross-exami- 

253 


David  nation  of   witnesses  ;  in  his   method   and   manner   of 
Gross  argument ;  in    simplicity,  directness    and    strength   of 
written  and  oral  speech. 

President  Tucker  :  There  are  few  occasions  of  this 
nature,  or  of  any  public  intent  or  concern,  complete 
without  the  word  of  Dr.  William  Everett.  But  our 
special  claim  upon  him  lies  in  the  fact  of  his  knowledge 
of  Mr.  Webster  as  Secretary  of  State  through  his  father, 
the  successor  of  Mr.  Webster  in  the  State  Department. 


Speech  of  tKe  Honorable  William 
Everett,  PH.  D.,  LL.  D. 

Mr.  President : — 

U~^  feel  that  I  might  almost  say  I  began  life  under 
J  the  aegis  of  Mr.  Webster  as  Secretary  of  State. 
I  had  the  misfortune,  sir,  to  be  born  under  Van 


Buren.  I  admit  it.  But  before  I  acquired  conscious- 
ness, VanBuren  was  out  of  power,  and  the  very  first 
glimmering  of  consciousness,  so  far  back  that  when  I 
say  I  recollect  certain  things,  old  friends  tell  me  I  do  not 
recollect  them,  but  that  they  were  told  me,  was  under  his 
successor.  Mr.  Edward  Webster  was  a  member  of  our 
household,  then  domiciled  in  Florence,  and  I  was  held 
in  his  arms.  I  had  his  name  breathed  in  my  ears  as 
early  as  that  of  any  of  my  family.  It  was  his  father's 
commission  that  brought  us  from  Florence  to  London, 
and  my  first  undoubted,  continuous  recollections  begin 
in  London,  when  his  name  was  spoken  exactly  as  often 
in  our  household  as  any  of  our  own  kindred.  I  feel, 
sir,  that  I  have  a  right  to  speak  of  the  services  of  that 

254 


man  whom,  indeed,  I  never  heard  in  public,  but  whom  I  "William 
knew  in  a  better  way  than  in  public.  Everett 

"  Seen  him  I  have,  but  in  his  happier  hour 
Of  social  pleasure,  ill  exchanged  for  power." 

I  saw  him  in  our  house.  There  was  no  stateliness 
there,  there  was  no  pompousness,  there  was  no  draw- 
ing back,  as  if  he  was  too  great  for  common  persons 
to  look  up  to,  which  is  the  way  you  would  think  he 
was  by  some  of  the  portraits  and  descriptions.  No, 
when  he  came  into  our  house,  and  my  mother,  who  was 
afraid  of  nothing  under  heaven,  held  out  her  hands  to 
him,  she  took  him  right  off  his  high  horse,  and  he  was 
the  easiest  and  most  affectionate  and  gentlest  of  mortals. 
There  is,  sir,  a  touching  story  in  the  Arabian  legends 
of  how,  long  after  the  great  reformer  had  disappeared, 
the  son  of  his  follower  was  murdered  by  a  tyrant,  and 
as  the  head  of  Hassan  was  brought  to  him,  he  struck 
his  staff  on  the  lip,  and  an  old  man  said,  UI  have  seen 
those  lips  pressed  to  the  lips  of  the  prophet  of  God." 
No  tyrant  will  ever  think  it  worth  while  to  strike  at  my 
head, — but  these  lips  have  been  pressed  to  the  lips  of 
him  who  was,  indeed,  to  Americans  a  prophet  of  God. 

In  the  few  minutes  which  it  is  proper  for  me  to 
take,  sir,  I  am  glad  of  the  opportunity  to  say  a  few 
words  of  Webster's  services  as  Secretary  of  State.  The 
country  may,  perhaps,  think  of  him  chiefly  in  connection 
with  the  work  of  the  Senate  House,  but  the  permanent 
work  he  wrought  for  our  relations  with  foreign  nations 
is  a  thing  which  Americans  ought  not  to  forget.  Mr. 
Webster  took  a  stand  in  the  State  department  which  is 
the  one  which  every  American  should  take,  that  of 
perfect  dignity,  of  perfect  calmness,  of  reasoning  out 

255 


"William  the  quarrels  of  America  in  such  a  way  that  foreign 
Everett  powers  shall  be  forced  to  recognize  the  truth  of 
our  position  and  there  will  never  be  any  danger  of 
war  or  even  of  quarrelling,  for  such  arguments  as  his 
will  always  silence,  as  his  silenced  any  opposing  word 
among  the  other  nations,  if  there  were  any.  You 
know,  for  instance,  that  there  had  been  a  constant  quar- 
rel between  England  and  America  on  the  subject  of  the 
right  of  search,  which  had  led  to  a  war,  and  when  peace 
was  made  at  the  end  of  the  war  which  was  made  for 
the  right  of  search,  nothing  was  ever  said  about  the  right 
of  search  in  the  treaty,  and  the  quarrel  remained  in  spite 
of  the  war.  Mr.  Webster  as  Secretary  of  State  addressed 
a  letter  to  Lord  Aberdeen  on  the  right  of  search,  and 
that  letter  never  was  answered  by  the  English  Govern- 
ment, but  the  right  of  search  was  never  talked  about 
again  from  the  time  that  letter  was  written. 

Webster  also  as  Secretary  of  State  negotiated  the 
first  Extradition  Treaty — the  first  treaty  which  en- 
abled us  to  feel  that  those  criminals  who  escaped  to 
foreign  nations  were  still  as  much  in  our  power  as  if 
they  had  remained  within  our  borders  and  that  other 
nations  might  feel  the  same  of  us.  Just  consider, 
brethren,  —  Dartmouth  men  are  brethren  of  Harvard 
men,  ain't  they  ? — just  consider,  brethren  ;  suppose  in 
this  last  terrible  assassination  which  has  stricken  the 
heart  of  the  country  to  its  depths,  perpetrated  on  the 
very  borders  of  Canada,  the  criminal  had  managed  to 
escape  to  Canada  across  the  Niagara  River,  should  we 
have  been  troubled  ?  No,  because  he  would  have  been 
surrendered  by  the  Government  of  Canada  as  completely 
as  if  he  had  escaped  to  Philadelphia  or  Detroit.  But 

256 


before  Mr.  Webster's  time  he  would  not  have  been  sur-  William 
rendered.     Now,  escape  would  have  been  as  useless  to  Everett 
him  across  the  border  as  it  would  have  been  to  the  edge 
of  the  country,  and  that  great  blessing  we  owe  to  his 
negotiations  as  Secretary  of  State. 

But  he  did  something  greater  and  better  for  us. 
When  Mr.  Webster  came  in  as  General  Harrison's  Sec- 
retary, England  and  America  were  on  the  verge  of  war. 
There  was  a  quarrel  about  the  northeastern  boundary 
and  about  the  northwestern  boundary.  There  was  a 
quarrel  on  the  border  of  Niagara  about  the  sympathizers 
and  the  arrest  of  McLeod.  The  English  Foreign  office 
had  been  in  the  hands  of  Lord  Palmerston.  That  man 
was  determined  to  pick  a  quarrel  with  every  land  which 
did  not  submit  to  his  dictation.  Happily  that  govern- 
ment had  gone  out  of  power  about  the  time  Gen.  Har- 
rison's government  came  into  power  in  this  country, 
and  Mr.  Webster  was  determined  that  the  causes  of 
quarrels  which  had  existed  off  and  on  for  half  a  century 
should  be  put  an  end  to.  A  special  envoy  was  sent 
from  England,  and  Mr.  Webster  met  Lord  Ashburton 
with  open  hands,  and  not  with  clenched  fists.  The 
northeastern  boundary  apparently  could  not  be  settled; 
it  seemed  as  if  there  must  be  a  war  if  each  nation  held 
what  each  considered  its  rights.  Such  a  war  would 
have  been  popular  in  the  United  States.  There  was 
dissatisfaction  with  Great  Britain.  Two  wars  had  not 
let  out  enough  bad  blood  and  there  must  be  a  third. 
Supposing  Mr.  Webster  had  said  to  Lord  Ashburton, 
"We  will  maintain  our  rights  ;  we  will  maintain  that  the 
Highlands,  which  divide  the  rivers  flowing  into  the  St. 
Lawrence  from  the  rivers  flowing  into  the  Atlantic,  are 

257 


William  where  we  say  and  not  where  you  say."  If  he  had  also 
Everett  said,  "We  will  claim  Oregon  to  54°4o',  and  if  you  do 
not  like  it  we  will  fight  for  it,"  how  popular  that  would 
have  been!  How  all  the  yeomanry  in  the  North  and  all 
the  chivalry  of  the  South  would  have  rushed  across  the 
St.  Lawrence  and  the  St.  Croix  and  the  Columbia! 
Think  of  the  Princeton,  which  was  receiving  her  arms 
that  proved  fatal  to  Mr.  Webster's  successor,  how  she 
would  have  been  sent  out  to  prey  upon  the  English 
commerce.  Think  how  he  might  have  floated  into  the 
presidency  as  the  great  war  secretary  at  the  end  of 
Tyler's  term.  Think  how  popular  he  would  have  be- 
come with  the  Whig  party  that  had  almost  renounced 
him  for  staying  in  the  cabinet.  He  knew  better.  He 
was  willing  to  give  up  what  the  state  of  Maine  thought 
were  her  rights,  he  was  willing  to  give  up  everything 
that  might  have  given  him  a  crown  of  glory  equal  to 
any  great  war  statesman,  for  the  more  enduring,  the 
more  perfect  crown,  "Blessed  are  the  peacemakers  for 
they  shall  be  called  the  children  of  God."  He  knew 
that  any  war,  all  wars,  are  sins  and  crimes  and  blunders, 
but  he  knew  that  the  war  between  England  and  the 
United  States  for  a  few  square  miles  near  the  St.  Johns 
River  was  a  crime,  a  sin,  a  blunder  beyond  comparison, 
and  he  was  willing  to  sacrifice  what  a  meaner,  a  less  far- 
sighted,  a  more  passionate  statesman  would  have  held 
as  his  glory,  in  order  to  make  and  keep  the  peace  be- 
tween those  who  never  should  be  at  war. 

He  settled  the  boundary,  and  England  became  friends 
with  us.  They  said  in  England  that  her  rights  were  given 
up  ;  we  said  in  America  that  our  rights  were  given  up. 
What  right  is  more  precious  than  that  of  living  in  peace 

258 


with  those  with  whom  war  is  a  sin  ?    In  consequence  of  William 
that  action  of  his,  settling  the  northeastern  boundary,  Everett 
there  followed  in  the  next  administration  the  settlement 
of  the  northwestern  boundary.  That  was  not  entrusted  to 
him,  but  although  it  was  done  by  the  next  administra- 
tion it  was  just  as  much  his  work  as  the  northeastern 
boundary,  because  if   he  had  not  settled  the  northeast- 
ern boundary  as  he  did  the  next  administration  would 
never  have  gone  on  and  perfected  his  work. 

Upon  what  he  did  in  his  second  administration  as 
Secretary  of  State  I  will  not  dwell  here.  All  I  can  say 
here  is  that  those  who  declare  that  after  his  Seventh  of 
March  Speech  he  lost  all  credit  with  the  nation,  entirely 
forget  that  second  administration;  they  forget  that  mag- 
nificent state  paper,  the  Hulsemann  L,etter.  If  any- 
one fancies  that  Americans  had  given  up  their  states- 
man of  1850,  he  may  see  what  Mr.  Webster  did  in  1851 
and  1852,  holding  the  pen  in  his  hand  and  signing  the 
papers  that  were  to  state  the  opinion  of  America  in  dig- 
nified terms  down  to  the  very  moment  of  his  death.  When 
he  was  lying  in  that  darkened  chamber  at  Marshfield  he 
was  thinking  of  the  public  business  and  arranging  for  its 
proper  transaction  to  the  very  last.  And  while  Secre- 
tary of  State  the  second  time  he  combined  the  orator 
with  the  statesman.  Although  he  was  not  in  a  position 
where  oratory  is  generally  looked  for,  he  made  his  mag- 
nificent Fourth  of  July  Speech  at  the  laying  of  the 
corner-stone  of  the  capitol  in  1851,  when  he  uttered  one 
of  the  most  remarkable  prophecies  ever  recorded  in  po- 
litical history  and  raised  himself  entirely  above  the  level 
of  statesmen  who  live  for  the  present.  The  audience 
was  chiefly  composed  of  Virginians.  On  the  fourth  of 

259 


William  July  in  the  city  of  Washington  you  would  not  expect  to 
Everett  have  any  but  a  Virginia  and  Maryland  audience  such 
as  gathered  on  that  occasion  to  listen  to  hi  in.  He  took 
up  his  favorite  theme,  the  sin  of  abandoning  the  Union. 
He  talked  to  the  representatives  of  Virginia,  those  on 
the  James  River,  and  those  beyond  the  Blue  Ridge,  and 
then  he  spoke  to  those  who  live  beyond  the  Allegheny 
and  warned  them  of  the  evils  of  breaking  up  the  Union. 
He  said — I  have  to  quote  from  memory — I  have  not 
studied  it  in  the  book — I  may  say  as  Lord  Mansfield 
did  on  a  similar  occasion,  "  I  have  consulted  no  books, 
indeed  I  have  no  books  to  consult," — but  Mr.  Webster 
said,  u  Do  you  think,  ye  men  of  Western  Virginia,  that 
you  can  remain  part  and  parcel  of  Virginia  a  month  after 
Virginia  has  ceased  to  be  part  and  parcel  of  the  United 
States?"  Who  else  in  1851  thought  that  in  1861  the 
northwestern  counties  of  Virginia  would  be  cut  off  and 
become  a  separate  state  in  consequence  of  the  secession 
of  old  Virginia?  It  was  his  vision,  but  it  was  his  re- 
vealed vision,  his  inspired  vision,  that  told  him  that  if 
the  South  tried  to  break  from  the  North  the  line  of  cleav- 
age would  run  through  the  Old  Dominion  itself,  and 
that  the  North  would  gain  those  that  the  South  had  held 
for  her  own  and  never  could  get  back  after  the  original 
and  terrible  mistake.  Here  we  have  him  a  peacemaker 
with  foreign  nations,  a  prophet  to  his  own,  never  for- 
getting to  maintain  the  honor  of  his  country  in  irresist- 
ible argument,  never  forgetting  to  hold  out  the  hand  of 
peace  to  our  cousins  across  the  water,  to  our  brothers 
among  ourselves;  and,  surely  what  greater  service  than 
that  of  the  peacemaker  and  the  prophet  could  any  states- 


260 


man  render  to  the  country  of  his  choice?  William 

It  is  time  for  me  to  close,  sir,  but  I  wish  with  your  Everett 
permission  to  close  with  offering  a  sentiment  which 
though  not  directly  appropriate  to  Mr.  Webster  is 
surely  never  inappropriate  in  speaking  of  him  and 
speaking  of  Dartmouth  College.  Immediately  after 
Mr.  Webster  had  gone  to  his  grave,  Dartmouth  College 
held,  in  the  year  1853,  a  solemn  commemoration  of  his 
connection  with  her,  and  on  that  occasion  a  eulogy  was 
delivered  by  that  son  of  Dartmouth  College  who 
rivalled  Mr.  Webster  as  forensic  orator  and  might  have 
rivalled  him  as  senatorial  orator  if  he  had  not  just 
touched  the  cup  of  senatorial  greatness  and  then  let  it 
pass  from  his  lips.  On  that  occasion  there  was  a  vin- 
dication of  Mr.  Webster's  position  in  1850  which  is 
utterly  unanswerable.  I  offer  you  as  a  sentiment,  sir, 
at  your  Webster  commemoration: — 

"The  memory  of  Rufus  Choate,  the  friend,  the 
follower,  the  eulogist  of  Daniel  Webster ;  Dartmouth 
owes  him  an  incalculable  debt  and  among  its  items  will 
dwell  with  peculiar  gratitude  on  that  discourse  which 
demonstrated  that,  as  Webster's  political  sagacity  was 
beyond  the  criticism  of  emulous  rivals,  so  his  political 
morality  was  beyond  the  cavil  of  narrow  minded  cen- 
sors." 


President  Tucker:  In  a  letter  recently  received 
reviving  some  reminiscences  of  his  boyhood  I  note  this 
passage:  "The  first  time  I  ever  fired  a  gun  was  at 
Sandwich  in  September,  1826.  The  gentlemen  of  the 
party  had  returned  from  shooting  with  their  fowling 
pieces  loaded  and  called  upon  us  boys  to  fire  them.  I 

26* 


The  think  on  that  occasion  I  fired  Mr.  Webster's."      The 

President  writer  of  this  letter  might  have  added  that  he  has  never 

of  the  since  fired  guns  of  any  less  calibre.    I  have  the  pleasure 

College  t0   introduce    to   you    the  Reverend    Doctor    Edward 

Everett  Hale. 


Speech  of  the  Reverend    Edward 
Everett  Hale,  D.D.,  LL.  D. 

Mr.  President,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen  : — 

AM  heartily  indebted  to  my  hosts  for  their  invi- 
tation to  be  present  on  this  occasion.  The  oc- 
casion has  proved  itself  not  simply  one  of  pride 


and  congratulation  among  the  friends  of  Mr.  Webster 
and  the  College,  but  one  of  historical  importance  as 
well. 

For  myself,  my  right  to  speak  rests  wholly  upon 
the  memories  which  a  child,  who  became  a  big  boy,  who 
became  a  young  man,  and  who  was  thirty  years  old 
when  Mr.  Webster  died,  has  of  the  kindness  which 
a  great  man  can  show  to  a  very  young  friend.  From 
the  moment  when  Mr.  Webster  removed  to  Bos- 
ton in  1817,  he  and  my  father  were  intimate  friends.  I 
have  a  fancy,  indeed,  that  they  had  first  met  in  the 
charming  society  of  Exeter.  Exeter  is  a  place  of 
which  I  always  speak  with  tenderness  and  regard, 
because  if  my  father  had  not  been  the  mathematical 
preceptor  at  Exeter,  he  would  never  have  met  my 
mother  and  in  that  case  I  do  not  know  where  I  should 
be  to-day.  Mr.  Webster  had  established  his  brother, 
Ezekiel,  in  a  school  in  Boston  while  he  was  himself 
studying  law  in  Christopher  Gore's  office.  I  think 

262 


that  my  father  and  Mr.  Edward  Everett  relieved  Mr.  Edward 
Ezekiel  Webster  in  that  school  at  different  times  when  Everett 
he  was  not  well.  I  may  say  in  passing  that  that  was 
the  sort  of  men  who  were  schoolmasters  before  the  in- 
ventions of  modern  machinery. 

Of  course  their  children  were  intimate  friends. 
Edward  Webster,  the  second  son  of  him  whom  we 
celebrate,  only  six  months  older  than  I,  was  my  school- 
mate till  we  were  twelve  years  old.  We  struck  with 
the  same  bat  at  the  same  ball :  we  drove  our  hoops  side 
by  side :  we  made  the  same  mistakes  over  the  same 
fable  of  Phaedrus.  If  we  were  in  the  house,  it  was  his 
father's  house  or  my  father's  house.  Almost  the 
earliest  thing  I  remember  was  a  September  visit  to  the 
Cape  in  1826,  when  Mr.  Webster  and  Judge  Story  and 
Judge  Fay  and  my  father  went  down  to  the  Cape  for 
some  shooting.  The  ladies  and  children  of  the  families 
went  with  them,  and  great  was  my  pride  when  at  the 
modest  age  of  four  years  I  was  permitted  to  discharge 
one  of  the  guns  at  an  unoffending  shingle.  Mr.  Web- 
ster was  very  fond  of  children  and  got  along  excellently 
well  with  them.  I  am  always  proud  to  tell  this  story  of 
a  child's  game  of  speculation  or  commerce  at  which  at 
some  birthday  party  we  were  all  playing  in  his  own 
library.  The  great  library  table  was  cleared  for  us,  and, 
as  it  happened,  I  sat  by  Mr.  Webster's  side.  In  the 
exigencies  of  the  game,  perhaps  from  my  own  impru- 
dent playing,  I  had  lost  all  my  ivory  counters,  and  I 
cried  out,  "  I  have  nothing  left.  Have  I  no  friend  who 
will  lend  to  me  ?"  With  perfectly  characteristic  gen- 
erosity, Mr.  Webster  pushed  half  his  stock  in  front  of 
me  and  said,  "  Edward,  as  long  as  I  live  you  shall  never 

263 


Edward  saY  you   have   not  a   friend."     I   was  a  child,  but   I 
Everett  treasured  the  words  and  they  always  proved  true. 

Hale  Senator  Lodge  may  well  express  his  surprise  that 
any  one  who  knew  Mr.  Webster  at  all  thought  he  had 
no  sense  of  humor.  His  humor  cropped  out  always 
when  he  was  at  ease.  In  those  days  of  his  younger 
practice,  he  was  sitting  in  the  Dedham  Court  House 
when  a  murder  trial  was  going  on.  He  may  have  been 
one  of  the  counsel,  I  do  not  know.  He  condensed  the 
testimony  in  these  lines,  which  are  gruesome  enough, 
but  show  his  ready  and  easy  tact  in  versification  : 

"  There  was  blood  on  the  door, 
There  was  blood  on  the  floor, 
There  was  blood  on  the  kitchen  stair, 
And  all  in  the  cracks 
Of  the  murderer's  axe 
There  was  clotted  blood  and  hair." 

I  cannot  dissect  his  contribution,  but  I  have  a 
child's  poem  which  he  and  some  of  the  other  lawyers 
wrote  with  my  father  and  mother  for  me,  to  entertain 
me  in  sickness.  It  was  the  trial  of  the  sparrow  for  the 
murder  of  cock  robin.  I  have  always  guessed  that  Mr. 
Webster  furnished  these  lines,  because  they  are  the 
best  in  the  little  poem  and  because  they  are  such  good 
law  : 

"The  judge  charged  the  jury 
For  an  hour  and  a  quarter ; 
He  spoke  first  of  murder 
And  then  of  manslaughter. 

"He  stated  that  malice 

Was  the  essence  of  crime, 

And  that  this  was  too  clear 

To  take  up  their  time ; 
"That  if  the  defendant, 

When  his  arrow  he  hurled, 

264 


Had  acted  from  malice  Edwafd 

Against  the  whole  world,  Everett 

"And  cared  not  who  suffered,  Hale 

So  he  had  his  sport, 
That  then  he  deserved 
The  worst  sentence  of  Court." 

It  has  not  seemed  to  me  that  enough  has  been  said 
of  the  wide  range  of  observation,  of  reading,  of  conversa- 
tion, and,  therefore,  of  information  which  went  with 
the  tireless  activity  of  an  unequalled  mind.  He  would 
talk  of  Greek  history,  he  would  discuss  the  letters  of 
Linnaeus  as  easily  as  he  might  tell  an  anecdote  of  John 
Adams,  or  laugh  at  an  absurdity  of  Lord  Eldon.  He 
worked  very  easily,  so  easily  that  I  have  heard  men 
speak  of  his  leisure  as  if  it  were  affected  leisure. 
This  does  not  seem  to  me  fair.  He  seemed  to  be  ready 
to  discuss  the  accuracy  of  Pope's  translation  of  Homer, 
and  he  was  ready.  He  was  ready,  because  that  morn- 
ing at  half-past  five  he  had  lighted  the  kindlings  in  his 
own  grate,  had  been  at  his  desk  at  six,  and  when  the 
family  met  at  breakfast  he  had  already  finished  the  im- 
portant part  of  the  work  of  the  day. 

I  would  gladly  speak  of  the  devout  and  distinctly 
spiritual  element  in  Mr.  Webster's  power.  I  would 
like  to  say  a  word  in  condemnation  of  the  preposterous 
imputation  that  he  was  intemperate  in  his  appetites. 
But  on  these  matters  I  am  sure  that  full  justice  will  be 
done  him  by  history. 


President  Tucker  :  If  we  pass  from  personal  remi- 
niscences of  Mr.  Webster  to  his  political  inheritance,  to 
whom  shall  we  turn  with  one  accord  except  to  the 
senior  Senator  from  Massachusetts — Senator  Hoar. 

265 


George  Speech  of  tHe   Honorable   George 
Frisbie  Hoar,  LL.  D. 


Mr.  President,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen  :  — 

OW  many  men  have  there  been  in  this  country 
whose  college  would  celebrate  their  taking  their 
degree  one  hundred  years  afterward,  or  fifty 
years  after  they  died  ?  It  might  have  been  done  for 
Washington  and  Lincoln.  But  they  were  not  college 
men.  It  might  have  been  done  for  Hamilton  or  Jeffer- 
son. But  neither  Hamilton  or  Jefferson  got  through 
college,  and  Jefferson  was  not  in  general  a  favorite  with 
college  men.  I  believe  Bowdoin  will  do  it  for  Long- 
fellow, and  I  believe  Harvard  will  do  it  for  Emerson.  I 
cannot  think  of  any  other.  Yet  no  man  will  doubt  the 
absolute  fitness  of  the  ceremonial  of  to-day. 

Daniel  Webster  died  under  a  cloud  of  obloquy.  He 
had  deeply  offended  the  North,  and  he  had  not  won  the 
South.  He  had  offended  his  own  state,  which  had  so 
honored  and  loved  him.  The  ordinary  political  antago- 
nisms, always  bitter,  bitter  now,  were  bitter  in  his  time 
to  a  degree  we  can  hardly  comprehend  now.  He  had 
pained  and  grieved  the  conscience  of  his  country.  He 
was  held  for  a  time  to  be  untrue  to  liberty.  I  suppose 
the  contemporary  judgment  when  he  died  was  that  of 
Theodore  Parker,  rather  than  that  of  Choate  or  of 
Everett. 

But  now  few  men  can  be  found  anywhere  who  think 
otherwise  than  kindly  and  lovingly  of  this  illustrious 
son  of  Dartmouth.  We  have  had  fifty  years  to  think  of 
it.  If  the  republic  abide,  his  name  and  fame  will  abide 
with  it.  If  the  republic  die,  his  name  and  fame  shall 

266 


be  inseparably  intertwined  with  its  memory,  as  the  fame  George 
of  Pericles  is  intertwined  with  that  of  Athens.  Frisbic 

The  wisest  and  best  men  are  likely  to  differ  most  Hoar 
sharply  in  applying  what  seem  the  simplest  and  clearest 
principles  of  morals  and  duty  and  political  liberty  to  the 
conduct  of  states,  as  they  differ  most  sharply  as  to  the 
creeds  of  religious  sects,  and  the  man  who  is  most 
positive  is  most  likely  to  be  wrong.  The  moral  is  not 
that  good  men  should  abate  in  their  zeal  for  righteous- 
ness or  liberty,  but  only  that  they  should  abate  in  the 
bitterness  of  their  judgments  of  others  with  whom 
they  differ. 

We  have  learned,  nearly  all  of  us,  that  the  things 
about  which  honest  and  brave  and  patriotic  men  are 
most  likely  to  differ  and  to  impute  bad  motives  and 
inconsistencies  to  each  other,  are  those  which  seem  to 
them  the  plainest  principles  and  the  clearest  maxims  of 
public  liberty,  or  the  most  express  and  unmistakable 
mandates  of  religion. 

Each  man  has  given  to  him  his  own  light.  He  is 
a  laggard  or  a  dastard  if  he  do  not  follow  it.  But  he 
is  nowhere  commanded  to  sit  in  judgment  on  the  motives 
of  other  men.  On  the  contrary,  the  divine  command 
is,  "Judge  not,"  and  the  punishment  for  disobedience 
to  that  command  is  that  you  are  to  be  treated  as  you 
treat  other  men,  and  that  the  measure  you  mete  shall 
be  measured  to  you  again. 

In  doing  justice  to  him,  let  us  do  justice  to  the  men 
who  condemned  him.  Those  of  us  who  thought  as  I 
thought,  and  as  I  now  think,  the  counsel  he  gave  his 
countrymen  in  regard  to  the  Compromise  Measures,  in 
conflict  with  the  great  mandate  of  justice  and  of  consti- 

267 


George  tutional  liberty  and  in  conflict  with  the  doctrine  he  had 
Frisbie  taught  his 'country men  throughout  his  life,  may  still 
Hoar  bring  their  tribute  of  honor  to  his  memory,  as  Whittier, 
who  had  written  Ichabod  brought  his  imperishable  trib- 
ute   of  affection  and  honor,   which,  alas  !   was  never 
placed  on  the  brow  of  Webster,   but  only  laid  on  his 
grave. 

I  have  been  asked  to  speak  of  Mr.  Webster  as  a 
Senator.  He  was,  beyond  doubt,  the  foremost  of 
American  Senators.  When  we  think  of  the  Senate 
Chamber,  we  think  of  him  as  its  principal  figure  and  or- 
nament. Yet  he  did  much  less  than  many  other  men  to 
influence  the  action  of  the  Senate.  In  his  time,  the 
Senate,  more  than  before  or  since,  might  have  been  de- 
scribed as  a  meeting  of  the  Ambassadors  of  States.  Its 
members  met  with  minds  made  up  and  did  not  expect 
to  convince  one  another.  He  spoke,  as  his  successor 
said  he  did,  "as  from  a  pulpit  with  a  lofty  sounding- 
board,"  with  the  whole  people  for  his  congregation. 

His  place  in  history  is  that  of  a  public  teacher, 
guiding  the  thought  and  inspiring  the  emotions  of  his 
countrymen  when  the  issues  on  which  hung  the  fate  of 
the  republic  were  being  determined.  For  this  function 
he  was  fitted  alike  by  his  intellect  and  his  heart.  He 
was  a  great  reasoner,  a  great  orator,  and  a  great  lover. 
He  had  the  qualities  which  belong  to  humanity,  by 
which  its  hold,  half  on  earth  and  half  on  heaven,  is 
maintained. 

Matthew  Arnold  said  that  our  American  public  men 
lacked  distinction.  He  allowed  that  quality  to  Grant, 
though  he  could  not  find  it  in  Abraham  Lincoln.  If  he 
did  not  find  it  in  Webster,  the  cultured  and  fastidious 

268 


Englishman  would  probably  have  denied  it  to  the  Apollo  George 
Belvedere,  or   the  Phidian  Jove,  or  the  great  god  Pan.  Frisbie 

Why,  the  draymen  in  London  turned  to  look  after 
him  in  the  streets !  Sidney  Smith  said  he  was  a  steam 
engine  in  breeches.  He  moved  to  an  unwonted  admira- 
tion the  bitter  cynicism  of  Carlyle.  If  ever  being  walked 
the  earth  clad  in  the  panoply  of  an  imperial  manhood, 
it  was  Daniel  Webster.  If  ever  being  trod  the  earth  of 
whom  the  Greek  or  Roman  fable  would  have  made  a 
demi-god,  it  was  this  child  of  the  New  Hampshire  farm- 
house. Even  when  his  foes  would  describe  him,  at 
the  time  when  political  hatred  was  most  bitter,  they 
had  to  borrow  Milton's  lofty  imagery,  as  he  pictures  the 
fallen  angels  gathered  in  their  awful  Senate  Chamber. 

He  was  a  great  lover.  Was  there  ever  a  man  who 
loved  his  country,  or  who  loved  his  college,  or  who  loved 
his  father  and  his  brother  and  his  children,  and  his 
neighbors  and  friends,  who  loved  the  old  scenes  over 
which  his  mother  had  led  his  boyish  feet,  or  where  he 
dwelt  with  his  neighbors  by  mountain  or  shore,  as 
Daniel  Webster  loved  them  ? 

There  was  never  a  child  entered  his  presence  that 
did  not  remember  to  his  dying  day  the  kindly  and 
tender  look  that  came  from  the  deep  eyes,  and  the  win- 
ning and  beautiful  smile  that  lit  up  the  melancholy  of 
the  grave  face,  no  matter  what  care  might  be  weighing 
upon  the  brow. 

His  sentences  dwell  and  abide  with  us  like  the 
Psalms  of  David  or  the  songs  of  Burns.  Bright  boys 
repeat  them  over  and  over  to  themselves.  The  fisher- 
man on  the  boat  thinks  of  them,  and  the  sailor  at  the 
helm,  and  the  farmer  as  he  holds  the  plow.  They  come 

269 


George  up  in  the  mind  of  the  soldier  as  he  goes  into  battle,  and 
Frisbie  the  patriot  on  his  dying  bed. 

Hoar  When  New  Hampshire,  a  little  while  ago,  placed  his 
statue  in  the  Capitol,  I  had  something  to  do  with  the 
transaction.  Just  afterward,  I  got  two  letters  from 
brave  soldiers  of  the  Civil  War.  One  of  them  says : 
"In  the  forlorn  hope  at  Port  Hudson,  beaten  back,  we 
sought  the  refuge  of  the  scraggy  brushes,  and  then,  on 
that  cloudless  afternoon,  I  saw  the  flag  of  our  regiment, 
and  his  undying  peroration  returned  to  my  mind.  Who 
can  say  how  much  that  speech  shotted  our  guns?" 
The  other  told  me  that  he  was  stationed  one  night  on 
picket  duty,  where  two  sentinels  in  succession  had  just 
before  been  shot  down.  As  he  marched  up  and  down  in 
the  loneliness  of  the  night,  thinking  that  at  any  time 
his  death-shot  might  ring  out  from  the  thicket,  he  kept 
up  his  courage  by  repeating  to  himself,  over  and  over 
and  over  again,  the  closing  passage  of  the  reply  to 
Hayne,  which  he  had  got  by  heart  in  his  boyhood. 

The  same  thoughts  have  been  uttered  before  and 
since  by  other  orators.     Other   men  have  appealed  to 
the  same  emotion.     Other  men  have  spoken  to  the  same 
people,  but  only  to  meet  the  fate  of  him  who  tried  to 
rival  the  inimitable  thunderbolt  and  storm  with  sound- 
ing of  brass  and  trampling  of  the  feet  of  horses. 
"Qui  nimbus  et  non  imitabile  fulmen 
Acre  et  cornipedum  pulsu  simularet  equorum." 
It  is  said  that  other  countries  are  founded  upon 
force ;  that  in  the  end  they  rest  upon  the  bayonet  and 
the  cannon.     I  am  not  sure  that   this  theory  will  bear 
the  light  of  careful  consideration.     But  however  that 
may  be,  the  Republic  is  founded  upon  ideas.     When 

270 


those  ideas  lose  their  power  over  the  minds  and  hearts  George 
of  the  people,  the  Republic  will  come  to  an  end.     It  is  Frisbie 
the  fortune  of  Daniel  Webster,  as  of  no  other  man  ex-  Hoar 
cept  Jefferson,  that  the  great  ideas  which  lie  at  the  foun- 
dation of  the  Republic  clothe  themselves  to  every  man's 
understanding  in  his  language,  and  rest  for  their  sanc- 
tion and  vindication  upon  his  argument. 

In  general,  our  knowledge  of  history  is  like  our 
memory  of  a  journey  in  a  foreign  land.  We  remember 
vividly  a  few  great  pictures  in  great  galleries.  We  think 
of  a  few  landscapes,  and,  perhaps,  the  forms  and  faces  of 
a  few  famous  men.  If  we  met  them  and  talked  with 
them,  we  remember  what  they  said.  Everything  else 
is  blurred  and  indistinct.  So  history  is  made  up  to  us 
of  a  few  memorable  scenes,  a  few  human  figures,  or  a 
few  sentences  that  have  fallen  from  some  great  actor  on 
a  great  occasion.  We  know  our  own  history  as  well  as 
any  people  on  the  face  of  the  earth.  Yet  still  what  I 
have  said  is  true  of  us.  To  every  American,  certainly 
to  every  son  of  New  England,  to  blot  out  the  figure  of 
Daniel  Webster  from  our  history,  from  the  day  Wash- 
ington died  till  the  day  Lincoln  took  the  oath  of  office, 
would  be  like  cutting  out  the  figure  of  the  Virgin  Mary 
from  Raphael's  great  painting  at  Dresden.  How  it 
mingles  with  every  great  event  and  in  every  historic 
spot !  To  the  lover  of  constitutional  liberty,  there  is 
nothing  like  the  reply  to  Hayne  since  Pericles  died,  save 
only  the  dying  speech  of  Chatham,  and  that  of  Patrick 
Henry  at  Williamsburg.  There  is  nothing  like  it  since, 
save  Lincoln's  speech  at  Gettysburg.  We  cannot  think 
of  the  Senate  Chamber  without  him.  We  cannot  think 
of  the  Supreme  Court  without  him.  We  cannot  think 

27* 


George  of  Dartmouth  College  without  him.  We  cannot  think 
Frisbie  of  Faneuil  Hall  without  him.  We  cannot  think  of  Bos- 
ton,  or  Concord,  or  Lexington,  or  Bunker  Hill,  without 
him.  We  cannot  think  of  New  Hampshire  without 
him.  We  cannot  think  of  Massachusetts  without  him. 
We  cannot  think  of  America  without  him.  We  cannot 
think  of  the  Constitution  or  of  the  Union  without  him. 
His  figure  naturally  belongs  to  and  mingles  with  all 
great  scenes  and  great  places  which  belong  to  liberty. 
Emerson  said  his  presence  would  have  been  enough, 
even  had  he  refrained  from  speech,  when  the  monument 
at  Bunker  Hill  was  dedicated.  There  was  the  monu- 
ment, and  there  was  Webster. 

There  is  no  judgment  of  any  court,  save  Marshall's, 
more  weighty, — I  am  afraid  there  is  none  more  likely  to 
be  of  permanent  authority, — than  the  recorded  opinions 
of  Webster  on  Constitutional  Law.  There  is  nothing 
in  our  forensic  literature  more  likely  to  endure  than  his 
speeches. 

He  not  only  seemed  to  give  a  new  nobility  to  what 
is  noble  and  great,  but  he  ennobled  and  made  great  the 
common  scenes  of  common  life  with  which  he  mingled. 
I  venture  to  say  that  every  man  now  living,  or  every 
man  who  ever  did  live,  who  saw  Webster,  if  it  were  but 
as  he  passed  in  the  street,  remembered  it  freshly  ever 
afterward,  as  an  indelible  memory  of  life.  Whether  it 
were  in  the  schoolroom  at  Exeter,  or  the  classroom  at 
Dartmouth,  or  the  quiet  visit  at  some  neighbor's  home, 
or  in  some  great  natural  scene,  or  some  great  public 
gathering  by  the  seashore,  or  on  the  mountain,  or  in  the 
college  hall,  or  in  the  court  room,  or  in  the  Senate  Cham- 


272 


her,  he  is  still  everywhere  the  foremost  figure  and  is  in-  George 
separably  blended  with  the  scene.  Frisbie 

Hoar 

President  Tucker  :     I  am  told  that  it  is  contrary 

to  the  traditions  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States  that  the  Chief -Justice  should  speak  in  any  official 
or  semi-official  way  on  general  public  occasions.  I  beg 
the  Chief -Justice  of  the  United  States,  if  hampered  by 
the  traditions  of  the  Court,  to  remember  that  he  is  now 
in  his  ancestral  home  and  that  he  is  enjoying  the  privacy 
of  the  occasion. 

SpeecK   of  CHief-Justice   Melville 
Western  Fuller,   L,L.  D. 

Mr.  President  and  Brethren : — 

T  gives  me  great  pleasure  to  acknowledge  the  cor- 
dial welcome  you  have  extended  to  me,  but  in 
accepting  the  kind  invitation  of  your  committee 
to  be  present  at  this  commemoration  I  had  no  intention 
of  delivering  an  address  or  making  any  extended  re- 
marks. I  adhere  in  that  respect  to  the  general  rule, 
which,  as  I  understand  it,  has  been  observed  by  my  il- 
lustrious predecessors,  not  meaning  by  the  remark  to 
include  my  associates  on  the  bench.  All  will  admit 
that  the  rule  is  an  exceedingly  salutary  one  to  be  ob- 
served at  one  o'clock  at  night.  But  some  words  I  will 
add,  in  respect  of  certain  special  considerations,  which 
have  moved  me  to  be  with  you.  I  say  special  consid- 
erations, for  the  desire  to  participate  in  this  celebration 
needs  no  explanation. 

As  the  president  told  you  this  morning,  my  father's 
father  and  my  mother's  father  were  both  graduates  of 

273 


Melville  Dartmouth,  and  both    in   College  with   Mr.    Webster. 

Weston  Chief -Justice  Weston  graduated  two  years  later.  Henry 
Fuller  \v.  Fuller  was  his  classmate,  or  as  Mr.  Webster  him- 
self put  it,  his  "  brother  student,  brother  collegemate 
brother  classmate,  brother  Prater,  brother  Adelphian, 
and  friend."  Mr.  Webster's  letters  to  that  classmate 
are  heirlooms  in  the  family  and  they  amply  illustrate 
the  charming  phase  of  Mr.  Webster's  character  to  which 
Dr.  Hale  has  referred.  In  one  of  them  he  gives  the 
process  of  reasoning  by  which  the  conclusion  is  reached 
that  Daniel  Webster  is  the  handsomest  man  in  New 
England.  As  I  remember  it,  it  ran  something  like  this: 
That  Boston  was  the  handsomest  town  in  New  England; 
that  Christopher  Gore's  office  was  the  handsomest  office 
in  Boston  ;  and  that  Daniel  Webster  was  the  handsom- 
est man  in  Christopher  Gore's  office.  Argal,  that  Dan- 
iel Webster  was  the  handsomest  man  in  New  England. 
In  another  he  writes  that  he  has  heard  from  Davis  that 
everything  is  going  on  finely  at  Hanover,  pumpkin  pie 
and  professors  plenty  ;  wheat  and  poetry  a  good  deal 
blasted  ;  girls  and  ginger-bread  as  sweet  as  ever  ;  and 
in  another  he  compares  life  to  a  contra-dance  in  which 
he  thinks  somehow  he  has  "  slipped  a  foot."  You  can 
readily  understand  the  influence  which  such  recollec- 
tions, coupled  with  traditions  of  the  relations  between 
the  two  friends,  naturally  had  upon  me  on  receiving  the 
invitation  of  your  committee.  But  there  was  another 
and  a  weightier  cause  that  impelled  me,  a  sense  of  duty 
to  testify  by  my  personal  attendance  to  the  tie  that  binds 
the  memory  of  this  great  minister  of  justice  to  the  court, 
in  aid  of  whose  labors  some  of  the  most  splendid  mani- 
festations of  his  intellectual  power  were  exhibited.  It 

274 


is  impossible  to  overestimate  the  support  that  the  court  Melville 
derives  from  the  bar,  and  in  Mr.  Webster's  arguments  Weston 
fidelity  to  the  court  is  as  conspicuous  as  fidelity  to  his  Fuller 
client.  It  was  not  client  first,  and  conscience  after- 
wards, but  duty  to  both  together,  one  and  inseparable. 
And  this  was  so  notwithstanding  that  on  occasion  he 
departed  from  the  logical  line  of  his  contention  to  in- 
dulge in  outbursts  of  wonderful  and  apparently  spon- 
taneous eloquence.  I  should  like  to  go  further  and  to 
dwell  on  the  long  line  of  cases  in  which  Mr.  Webster's 
work  contributed  so  much  to  strengthen  and  solidify 
our  institutions,  and  "to  clear  the  foundations, 
strengthen  the  pillars,  and  raise  the  august  dome  of  the 
Temple  of  Justice  still  higher  in  the  skies."  But  I  for- 
bear in  deference  to  the  precedent  to  which  I  have  al- 
luded. 

Nearly  forty-nine  years  ago,  an  undergraduate  on 
leave  of  absence  for  the  purpose,  I  attended  the  funeral 
of  Mr.  Webster  at  Marshfield.  The  beauty  of  that  Octo- 
ber day  ;  the  majestic  aspect  of  the  great  lawyer  and 
advocate,  statesman  and  orator,  as  he  lay  in  his  accus- 
tomed habiliments  under  the  spreading  branches  of  a 
beautiful  tree  in  front  of  the  mansion  ;  and  the  walk  of 
neighbors  and  friends,  distinguished  personages,  and 
others,  over  the  fields  to  the  grave,  are  still  vivid  in  my 
memory.  As  a  youth  I  paid  that  tribute  to  Daniel 
Webster,  an  incident  quite  unimportant  save  to  the  boy 
himself.  And  I  repeat  it  now  after  the  lapse  of  nearly 
fifty  years,  with  the  added  significance  involved  in  the 
office  I  hold,  whose  incumbent  if  another  than  myself 
would  have  been  fully  justified,  as  I  am,  in  bearing  wit- 
ness as  such,  to  the  immortality  of  a  fame  so  connected 

275 


Melville  with  the  administration  of  justice,  and  with  the  vindica- 
"Weston  tion  of  liberty  as  the  creature  of  law,  that,  to  use  his 
Fuller  own  language,  it  "is  and  must  be  as  durable  as  the  frame 
of  human  society." 


President  Tucker :  Brethren,  it  remains  for  me 
only  while  you  are  standing  on  the  eve  of  your  going, 
to  return  the  thanks  of  Dartmouth  College  to  our  dis- 
tinguished guests  who  have  honored  us  by  their  words 
and  by  their  presence  and  to  announce  that  the  Webster 
Centennial  is  closed. 


276 


Appendix 


Effect   of  tHe    Dartmouth    College 
Case   as   a  Precedent.* 

®y  the  Honorable  cAlfred  Russell  LL.  D.,  '50. 
T  was  charged,  and  doubtless  firmly  believed,  by 
the  statesmen  and  philosophers  of  the  old  world, 
that  property  would  not  be  safe  under  a  govern- 


ment  like  ours,  derisively  called  by  Thomas  Carlyle 
"anarchy  plus  a  street  constable."  But  the  College 
Case  so  construed  and  applied  a  provision  of  our  Federal 
Constitution  as  to  render  vested  rights,  of  a  corporate 
character,  more  secure  here  than  in  Europe. 

In  the  mother  country,  where  the  power  of  Parlia- 
ment is  not  limited  by  a  written  constitution,  that  body 
has  introduced  into  the  universities,  and  other  endowed 
charities,  changes  greater  than  the  state  sought  to  im- 
pose upon  the  college,  and  has  deprived  business  cor- 
porations of  their  franchises  as  a  matter  of  mere  legisla- 
tive discretion,  as  in  the  noteworthy  case  of  the  East 
India  Company,  in  1858,  which  governed  millions  of 
people. 

By  the  original  College  charter  from  the  king, 
granted  in  1769,  twelve  persons  therein  named  were  in- 

*The  regret  caused  by  the  absence  of  Mr.  Kussell  from  the  ban- 
quet and  the  loss  of  the  speech  which  he  would  have  made  is  in  part 
compensated  for  by  this  article  which  is  inserted  by  permission.  The 
paper  is  of  special  value  as  presenting  an  aspect  of  the  Dartmouth 
College  Case  not  otherwise  treated  in  the  addresses  or  speeches  of 
this  volume. 

279 


The  corporated  by  the  name  of  "The  Trustees  of  Dartmouth 
Appendix  College,"  and  to  them  and  their  successors  the  usual 
corporate  privileges  and  powers  were  granted,  among 
which  was  authority  to  govern  the  College  and  fill  all 
vacancies  in  their  own  body.  By  acts  of  the  Legisla- 
ture of  New  Hampshire,  passed  in  1816,  the  charter 
was  amended,  the  number  of  trustees  increased  to  twenty- 
one,  the  appointment  of  the  additional  members  vested 
in  the  executive  of  the  state,  and  a  Board  of  Overseers, 
consisting  of  twenty-five  persons,  created,  with  power 
to  inspect  and  control  the  most  important  acts  of  the 
trustees.  The  President  of  the  Senate,  the  Speaker  of 
the  House  of  Representatives  of  New  Hampshire,  and 
the  Governor  and  Lieutenant- Governor  of  Vermont,  for 
the  time  being,  were  to  be  members  "ex  officio";  and 
the  Board  was  to  be  completed  by  the  Governor  and 
Council  of  New  Hampshire,  who  were  also  empowered 
to  fill  all  vacancies  which  might  occur.  A  majority  of 
the  trustees  of  the  College  refused  to  accept  this 
amended  charter,  and  brought  suit  for  the  corporate 
property,  which  was  in  the  possession  of  a  person  hold- 
ing by  authority  of  the  acts  of  the  Legislature. 

The  Superior  Court  of  Judicature  of  New  Hamp- 
shire sustained  the  legislation  of  the  State.  Upon  re- 
view by  the  Federal  Supreme  Court,  it  was  said  that 
the  ingredients  of  a  contract  are  parties,  consent,  con- 
sideration and  obligation  ;  that  the  case  presented  all 
these ;  that  the  parties  were  the  king  and  the  donees  of 
the  powers  and  privileges  conferred  ;  that  consent  was 
shown  by  what  they  did  ;  that  the  considerations  were 
the  investments  of  moneys  for  the  purpose  of  the  foun- 
dation, the  public  benefits  expected  to  accrue,  and  the 

280 


implied  undertaking  of  the  corporation  faithfully  to  The 
fulfill  the  duties  with  which  it  was  charged ;  that  the  Appendix 
obligation  was  to  do  the  latter  under  the  penalty  of 
forfeiture  for  non-user  or  mis-user ;  that  on  the  part 
of  the  king  there  was  an  implied  obligation  that  the 
life  of  the  compact  should  be  subject  to  no  other 
contingency.  The  Court,  therefore,  declared  the 
charter  to  possess  all  the  elements  of  a  contract,  within 
the  meaning  of  Article  i,  Section  10,  of  the  Constitu- 
tion, ordaining  that  no  state  shall  pass  any  law  impair- 
ing the  obligations  of  contracts.  It  was  consequently 
ruled  that  the  State  laws  changing  the  charter  without 
the  consent  of  the  corporation  were  repugnant  to  the 
Federal  Constitution,  the  supreme  law  of  the  land,  bind- 
ing the  judges  in  every  state,  and  the  judgment  of  the 
State  Court  was  reversed  and  annulled. 

During  the  eighty  years  since  this  decision,  made 
in  1819,  the  Federal  Supreme  Court  has  often  said  that 
the  question  decided  in  the  College  Case  has  been 
considered  as  finally  settled  in  the  jurisprudence  of  the 
entire  country  ;  that  murmurs  of  doubt  and  dissatisfac- 
tion are  occasionally  heard,  but  that  there  has  been  no 
re-argument  in  that  Court  and  that  none  has  ever  been 
asked  for.  The  Court  has  also  said  that  the  decision 
must  be  regarded  as  imbedded  in  the  Constitution  itself, 
and  that  it  has  been  re-affirmed  and  applied  so  often  as 
to  have  become  established  as  a  canon  of  American  juris- 
prudence. 

The  adoption  of  the  fourteenth  amendment,  in 
1868,  amounted  to  a  solemn  approval  of  the  decision  by 
the  states  themselves,  and  extended  the  guardianship 


28J 


The  of  the  Federal  Constitution  over  all  other  rights  within 
Appendix  the  states,  as  well  as  contracts. 

Many  hundreds  of  subsequent  cases  in  both  Federal 
and  State  Courts  have  established  the  law,  in  conform- 
ity with  the  College  Case,  that  wherever  rights  have 
been  acquired  by  virtue  of  a  corporate  charter,  such 
rights,  so  far  as  necessary  to  the  complete  enjoyment  of 
the  main  object  of  the  grant,  are  contracts  and  beyond 
the  reach  of  legislation,  unless  the  express  power  of 
amendment,  alteration  or  repeal  has  been  reserved  by 
the  state  granting  the  charter. 

The  College  Case  has  justly  been  regarded  as  a 
bulwark  of  private  property,  and  the  numerous  decis- 
ions based  upon  it,  setting  aside  acts  of  the  state  legis- 
latures, have  been  of  inestimable  benefit.  The  aston- 
ishing inventions  which  have  greatly  increased  the  busi- 
ness of  transportation  and  interstate  commerce  have 
been  steadily  adjudicated  upon  according  to  the  prin- 
ciple of  the  College  Case,  and  this  course  of  adjudication 
has  been  largely  the  source  of  the  success  of  the  great 
enterprises  which  have  so  much  benefited  the  country. 

In  the  intervening  time,  important  modifications  of 
the  Case  have  been  made.  Our  system  of  judiciary  law 
has  the  advantage  that  its  elasticity  enables  those  who 
administer  it  to  adapt  it  to  the  varying  conditions  of 
the  successive  generations  to  whom  it  is  immediately 
applied.  The  America  of  1901  is  very  different  from 
the  America  of  1819.  The  requirements  and  habits, 
wants,  usages,  and  interests  of  the  different  stages  of 
time  elapsing  since  the  decision  have,  indeed,  led  to 
modifications  of  the  decision,  but  its  principle  is  ab- 
sojutely  untouched,  and  always  will  be.  Twenty  years 

282 


after  the  decision  it  was  determined  in. the  Charles  The 
River  Bridge  Case  that  an  exclusive  right  to  enjoy  a  Appendix 
franchise  can  never  be  presumed,  and  that,  unless  the 
charter  contains  words  of  exclusion,  it  is  no  impairment 
of  the  grant,  under  the  College  Case,  to  permit  another 
to  do  the  same  thing,  although  the  value  of  the  franchise 
to  the  first  grantee  may  be  wholly  destroyed.  Such  is 
the  law  to-day.  Forty  years  after  the  Bridge  Case  came 
the  so-called  Granger  Cases,  holding  that  all  private 
property,  corporate  or  not,  which  is  affected  with  a  pub- 
lic use,  is  subject  to  the  affirmative  right  of  the  State 
Legislature  to  fix  the  charges  for  the  use  of  such  prop- 
erty ;  and  this  principle  was  applied  to  the  western 
grain  elevators  and  grain  conveying  railroads.  These 
cases  were  the  outgrowth  of  a  widely  diffused  feeling  of 
apprehension  that  the  accumulation  of  wealth  was  too 
much  protected  by  the  principle  of  the  College  Case. 
Twenty  years  after  the  Granger  Cases  the  College  Case 
came  again  under  review  in  the  so-called  Nebraska  Case 
and  kindred  cases,  establishing  that  there  is  implied  in 
the  franchise  of  a  carrying  corporation  a  grant  of  a  con- 
tract right  to  collect  such  tolls  as  will  enable  the  com- 
pany to  operate  and  return  a  profit  to  the  investors,  and 
that  the  reasonableness  of  rates  of  carriage,  fixed  by 
the  Legislature  under  the  Granger  Cases,  may  be  re- 
viewed by  the  courts.  These  cases  grew  out  of  the 
portentous  fact  that  the  states,  acting  on  the  principle 
of  the  Granger  Cases,  were  passing  laws  which  were  de- 
stroying the  value  of  railroad  property. 

The  Federal  Supreme  Court  has  had,  perhaps, 
more  frequent  occasion  to  re-affirm  the  principle  of  the 
College  Case  in  cases  respecting  the  power  of  taxation 

283 


The  than  in  any  other;  and,  in  a  long  series  of  decisions, 
Appendix  has  held  that  a  provision  in  a  charter  imposing  certain 
taxes  in  lieu  of  all  other  taxes  or  of  all  taxes,  to  which 
the  company  or  stockholders  therein  would  be  subject, 
is  impaired  by  legislation  raising  the  rate  of  taxation, 
or  imposing  taxes  other  than  those  specified  in  the  char- 
ter ;  and  this  doctrine  has  been  strictly  adhered  to  up 
to  the  present  time. 

Within  the  same  principle,  derived  from  the  Col- 
lege Case  as  limited  by  the  Bridge  Case,  are  grants  of  an 
exclusive  right  to  supply  gas,  or  water,  to  a  municipal- 
ity, or  to  occupy  its  streets  for  railway  purposes. 

So  we  see  that  the  principles  of  the  College  Case, 
arising  concerning  the  privileges  of  an  ancient  institu- 
tion for  the  preservation  of  learning  and  religion,  has 
not  only  been  a  shield  and  buckler  for  those  transcendent 
interests  of  our  country,  but  has  been  carried,  in  a  most 
unforeseen  way,  into  the  domain  of  the  vast  business 
concerns  of  continental  America.  The  wealth  of  our 
corporations  equals  in  value  four-fifths  of  the  entire 
property  of  the  country.  They  do  business  with  the 
citizens  of  every  state,  and  with  foreign  nations,  and  in 
their  enormous  transactions  and  litigations,  it  is  the 
aegis  of  the  College  Case  which  is  held  over  them,  a  sure 
protection. 

It  may  be  said,  in  conclusion,  that  the  effect  of  the 
College  Case  as  a  precedent  has  been  the  creation  of  the 
whole  body  of  American  doctrine  regarding  vested  rights, 
as  applied  to  the  charters  of  corporations.  This  doc- 
trine was  born  of  the  College  Case,  and  lives,  moves, 
and  has  its  being  in  it,  and  always  will  as  long  as  our 
government  endures.  This  case  has  been  cited  in  sub- 

284 


sequent  judicial  opinions  more  times  than  any  other  case  The 

in  the   "American    Reports," —about   nine  hundred  Appendix 

and  seventy  times ! 


Letter  from  Daniel  Webster  to 
Horatio  G.  Ciiley,  E-sqtzire.* 

WASHINGTON,  Sunday  Evening, 

February  35,  1838. 
My  Dear  Sir  : — 

EFORE  this  reaches  you,  you  will  probably  have 
heard  of  the  death  of  your  Nephew,  the  Hon'ble 
Mr.  Cilley,  member  of  the  House  of  Represen- 
tatives from  the  State  of  Maine. 

This  melancholy  event  was  the  result  of  a  Duel, 
fought  yesterday  afternoon,  between  him  and  the  Hon- 
'ble Mr.  Graves,  a  member  of  the  same  House  of 
Congress,  from  the  State  of  Kentucky. 

I  have  no  authentic  information  of  the  circum- 
stance which  led  to  the  contest,  nor  of  those  which 
accompanied  it.  The  friends  of  the  Parties  will  no 
doubt  immediately  lay  before  the  public  statements  of 
such  particulars  as  they  may  suppose  friends  may 
desire  naturally  to  be  informed  of.  The  main  object  of 
this  letter,  is  to  express  my  commiseration  with  the 
numerous  branches  of  your  family,  with  whom  I  have 
been  more  or  less  acquainted,  at  this  afflicting  occur- 
rence. Mr.  Cilley  himself  I  had  not  known  much.  He 

"This  letter  was  read  at  the  meeting  in  the  Old  Chapel  on  "Wednes- 
day afternoon,  and  is  referred  to  on  page  188  of  this  volume.  As  it 
was  received  too  late  for  publication  in  the  body  of  the  book,  it  is  in- 
serted here. 

285 


The  had  so  recently  become  a  member  of  Congress,  that  our 
Appendix  acquaintance  was  slight.  I  had  heard  him  speak  in  his 
place,  once  or  twice,  however,  and  I  thought  he  spoke 
with  ability.  But  having  known  his  father,  and  most 
of  his  uncles,  either  in  public  or  private  life,  and  hav- 
ing had  some  little  acquaintance  with  his  relatives,  of 
his  own  generation,  I  have  felt  it  a  kind  of  duty  to  ex- 
press toward  them  condolence,  and  commiseration,  and 
I  ask  you  to  communicate  these  sentiments,  as  you  may 
meet  with  the  members  of  the  family,  whom  I  know. 

The  members  of  the  Delegation  from  Maine,  in 
both  Houses,  all  of  whom  are  deeply  affected  by  the 
event,  will  do  all  that  remains  to  be  done.  The 
funeral  will  probably  be  attended  to-morrow.  How 
melancholy  it  is,  My  Dear  Sir,  that  neither  law  nor 
religion,  nor  both,  can  check  the  prevalence,  in  society, 
of  the  practice  of  private  combat! 

With  friendly  regard, 
Yours, 

DANL.  WEBSTER. 
Horatio  G.  Cilley,  Esq., 

Deerfield, 

N.  Hamp. 


286 


HIS  book  was  designed,  pot  into  type  and  printed 
for  Dartmouth  College,  at  the  Dartmouth  Press, 
Hanover,  New  Hampshire,  MCMH  j*  &  o*  &  jf> 


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